While GLP-1s have helped millions of Americans lose weight, patients can quickly regain the weight when they stop the medication.
Researchers are now investigating a new outpatient endoscopic procedure that could help patients maintain weight loss, according to a Jan. 14 press release from WVU Medicine.
Physicians at Morgantown. W.Va.-based WVU Medicine are evaluating the potential for duodenal mucosal resurfacing to prevent weight regain after a patient stops using GLP-1 medications.
The endoscopic treatment targets the lining of the duodenum to address obesity’s root causes and metabolic dysfunction, including diabetes.
WVU recently performed its first DMR procedure under the leadership of Shailendra Singh, MD, director of bariatric endoscopy and associate professor in the division of gastroenterology and hepatology at the WVU School of Medicine.
Patients in the study will be given tirzepatide to lose at least 15% of their body weight, and will then be randomly assigned to receive either the DMR procedure or a sham procedure.
The first DMR procedures showed that four weeks after patients underwent the outpatient treatment, none of the weight lost through the patient’s prior tirzepatide use was regained. The patient had previously achieved a 15% total body weight loss while using tirzepatide.
Other studies have shown that patients who discontinue GLP-1 therapy regain 3% of their weight on average within four weeks of discontinuing the prescribed drugs.