Weight loss drug Zepbound is being tested as a treatment for long-term covid

Amazing obesity drugs Wegovy and Zepbound have already shown that they can reduce the risk of cardiovascular and chronic kidney disease in addition to helping people lose weight. Now, a US-wide trial will test whether tirzapatide, the active ingredient in Zepbound, might be an effective treatment for people with long-term Covid.

Tirspatide, part of a class of drugs known as GLP-1, acts on receptors in the gut and brain to regulate appetite. As a result, people lose weight by eating less. But weight loss does not fully explain its positive effects on the heart and kidneys. Growing evidence suggests that the drugs have a broad anti-inflammatory effect on the body – a mechanism favored for long-term treatment of Covid.

About 20 million people in the United States have long-term Covid, a chronic illness that lasts at least three months after the initial infection. While more than 200 long-term Covid symptoms have been documented, some of the most common include cough, shortness of breath, brain fog, fatigue, mood swings, trouble sleeping, and body aches.

Scientists still don’t fully understand how and why prolonged covid occurs, but they have found persistent inflammation in many patients. This chronic inflammation may be caused by traces of the virus remaining in the body or by misguided antibodies, known as autoantibodies, that attack a person’s own cells and tissues. The hope is that tirzepatide can reduce this inflammation to improve patients’ symptoms.

The rationale for GLP-1 is its powerful anti-inflammatory properties throughout the body and brain, says Eric Topol, a cardiologist and director of the La Jolla, Calif.-based Scripps Translational Research Institute, which is sponsoring the trial.

Scripps researchers are recruiting 1,000 people nationwide who are 18 years or older and have long-term medical records of Covid. Unlike many medical studies, which typically require multiple in-person visits, the Scripps trial is completely remote. Participants will be randomized to receive tirzpatide or placebo by mail and will take it for one year. They receive a fitness tracker so researchers can measure their step count, an important indicator of fatigue. Participants will also receive a smart scale and be weighed regularly. Because GLP-1 is used for weight management, the study researchers wanted to make sure that the participants did not lose too much weight during the trial.

The trial’s lead investigator, Julia Moore Vogel, herself a long-time covid sufferer, says the remote design of the trial was intentional. “For the long-term Covid population, it’s very important because if you ask people to come to the clinic, you’re systematically excluding people who are severely affected who are at home or in bed. It was really important for us to make sure that those people are included.”