GLP-1s may improve some mental health outcomes in addition to lowering body weight

Key takeaways:

• Adults with mental illness achieved significant reductions in weight loss with GLP-1 therapy.
• GLP-1s were associated with improvements in depressive symptoms and alcohol use disorder in some studies.

Adults with a mental illness experienced weight loss and glycemic benefits with use of a GLP-1 without worsening of mental health outcomes, according to a presenter at the European Congress on Obesity.

“Obesity is a common comorbidity of mental illness,” Sigrid Breit, MD, researcher at the University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at University of Bern in Switzerland, told Healio. “As GLP-1s can cross the blood-brain barrier and have a direct effect on brain function, it is important to examine their impact on mental health, especially in patients with mental illness.”

Researchers conducted a systematic review of studies assessing the impact of GLP-1s on mental health and metabolic outcomes in people with and without a mental illness between 2010 and August 2024. The findings were also published in Psychoneuroendocrinology.

There were 36 studies identified, of which 17 were randomized controlled trials. Of the studies, 18 included people diagnosed with a mental illness and 18 assessed mental health outcomes and quality of life among people without mental illness. All the studies included people with overweight and obesity and 21 studies enrolled participants with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. Liraglutide (Saxenda/Victoza, Novo Nordisk) was the most common GLP-1 in the review and was included as the lone therapy in 16 studies and in combination with dulaglutide (Trulicity, Eli Lilly) in two studies.

GLP-1s were associated with a significant reduction in body weight in 15 studies and improved glycemic control in eight studies enrolling people with mental illness. Weight loss and improved glycemic control were observed in three studies assessing people with severe mental illness who also used antipsychotic or antidepressant medication.

Two studies found GLP-1s were associated with improvement in depressive symptoms and two other studies tied GLP-1s to an improvement in alcohol use disorder among people with obesity. There were no studies conducted among people with mental illness that found worsening of mental state with GLP-1 use. The researchers also found no significantly increased risk for suicidal ideation in the review.

Among 18 studies assessing adults without mental illness, eight found GLP-1 use improved mental state and 10 studies found improvements in quality of life with GLP-1s. Treatment satisfaction significantly improved among GLP-1 users in six studies.

Breit said the review shows GLP-1s may benefit mental health, but more studies are needed to assess their impact.

“There is a need to conduct randomized controlled trials with large sample sizes to investigate the use of GLP-1s with the indication to treat mental illness,” Breit said. “Future study results might show whether GLP-1s could be prescribed to also treat mental illness, but we don’t know yet.”

Reference:

For more information:

Sigrid Breit, MD, can be reached at [email protected].

Published by:

Sources/Disclosures

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Source:

Breit S, et al. Poster Abstract 0120. Presented at: European Congress on Obesity, May 11-14, 2025; Malaga, Spain.

Disclosures:
The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.

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