A cohort study by Israeli scientists found that adolescents treated with glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists had a 33 percent lower risk of suicidal thoughts or attempts compared to a control group. The study was conducted retrospectively based on data from the American health care system, and the results were published in JAMA Pediatrics.
Over 150 million children worldwide suffer from obesity. Although lifestyle interventions remain the cornerstone of obesity treatment, they generally have little effect on severe obesity in adolescents. However, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists have been found to be effective in combating childhood obesity.
However, little is known about the effects of these drugs, which include liraglutide and semaglutide, on neuropsychiatric outcomes. Previous studies in adults have yielded conflicting results, with some studies showing an increased risk of suicide when taking these drugs and others refuting these findings. The relevance of the issue is explained by the fact that suicide is considered the second most common cause of death among young people, and 18 percent of high school students have suicidal thoughts. Obesity in children is associated with an increased risk of both depression and suicidal tendencies.
Therefore, a team of scientists led by Liya Kerem from Hadassah Medical Center conducted a comparative analysis of suicidal tendencies in obese adolescents who took GLP-1 agonists or changed their lifestyle and eating habits. The study cohort included 54,164 patients: 4,052 patients in the GLP-1 agonist group and 50,112 patients in the control group.
Over 12 months of follow-up, patients in the treatment group had a 33 percent lower risk of suicidal ideation or attempt compared with the control group (1.4 percent vs. 2.3 percent, p=0.02). However, gastrointestinal symptoms were more common in the treatment group. Additional analysis showed that the reduction in the risk of suicidal ideation was directly related to the initiation of GLP-1 agonists, as follow-up of participants for a year before treatment initiation showed no difference between the groups.
In future studies, the scientists intend to study other effects of GLP-1 agonists on the psychoneurological health of adolescents with obesity. In addition, they are interested in the nature of the discovered connection: whether GLP-1 agonists directly affect neurophysiological processes in the brain, or the effect is mediated by weight loss and improved self-esteem in patients.
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