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Experimental weight-loss drug eases chronic knee pain in many patients
ReExperimental weight-loss drug eases chronic knee pain in many patients
A late-stage trial of the investigational drug retatrutide found that most overweight patients with painful knee osteoarthritis saw a major drop in pain, though researchers stress the drug is not yet approved and its long-term effects remain unknown.
An experimental weight-loss drug relieved chronic knee pain for a large share of patients in two clinical trials, according to researchers who led the studies. The drug, retatrutide, is given as a weekly injection and has not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The trials were led by researchers at Northwestern University and funded by Eli Lilly, the drugmaker developing retatrutide. The late-stage studies enrolled more than 1,000 adults who were overweight or obese and had painful knee osteoarthritis. None of the participants had diabetes. The trials ran for 68 weeks and 80 weeks.
In a pooled analysis of the two studies, about two-thirds of patients taking the highest dose achieved a reduction of at least 50 percent in knee pain. About 38 percent of patients who received a placebo reached the same level of relief. Participants on the drug also lost, on average, about one-quarter of their body weight at the highest dose, and the researchers reported lower blood pressure, improved cholesterol levels and reduced inflammation.
Complete pain relief was seen in roughly one in eight patients. Knee osteoarthritis affects an estimated 15 million Americans with painful knee arthritis, which makes the results notable for a condition for which treatment options are limited.
Retatrutide works by mimicking three hormones that regulate appetite and metabolism: GLP-1, GIP and glucagon. The most common side effects were gastrointestinal, with nausea the most frequently reported. Serious adverse events occurred more often among patients taking the drug than among those on placebo, a difference the researchers say must be weighed carefully in any future approval decision.
The lead author, Thomas Schnitzer of the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, has been cautious about the results. The trials excluded patients with advanced, bone-on-bone arthritis and people who were candidates for knee replacement, so the findings do not necessarily apply to them. The studies also included only obese participants, which leaves open how patients who are not obese would respond.
Researchers have not yet determined whether the drug slows the progression of knee osteoarthritis or reduces the future need for joint replacement. Those questions will need longer-term study before doctors can say whether retatrutide offers more than symptom relief. For now, the results show a meaningful effect on pain in a group of patients who have few effective options beyond weight loss and pain management.
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Source: New weight-loss drug wipes out chronic knee pain in some patients, researchers say