Ozempic and Wegovy could energize your taste buds

Semaglutide, the active ingredient in popular diabetes and obesity drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, may also improve people’s taste buds, preliminary research suggests. Scientists found that women taking semaglutide improved their taste sensitivity, particularly to sweet tastes. The results may shed light on another reason why and similar medications can effectively help people lose weight, the authors say.

The research was led by scientists from the University Medical Center in Ljubljana, Slovenia. They were intrigued by animal studies that seemed to show that GLP-1, a key hormone in the body’s control of blood sugar and hunger, also plays an important role in influencing the perception of sweet taste. In mice bred to no longer produce GLP-1, for example, their sensitivity to sweet taste appears significantly reduced.

Semaglutide and other incretins are designed to mimic GLP-1, and some research has shown that people taking this medication tend to experience a decrease in their desire for sweet, salty, and salty foods. The mechanisms behind this change, however, are not entirely clear. So the researchers wanted to see if a similar change in taste sensitivity could occur in humans as well as mice taking semaglutide.

It may seem unintuitive, but increasing taste sensitivity might actually help with weight loss by reducing the desire for excessively sweet, high-calorie foods. By perceiving sweet taste more intensely, individuals might feel satisfied with small amounts of sugar, leading to a decrease in overall caloric intake.

The team conducted a 16-week trial with 30 female volunteers, half receiving the drug and half a placebo. The volunteers had their taste sensitivity measured using strips containing the four basic tastes (sweet, salty, sour and bitter) placed on their tongue. Additionally, some cells from their tongues were collected to examine gene expression, and they underwent MRI before and after tasting something sweet after a standard meal.

“The present study demonstrated that semaglutide improved taste sensitivity in obese women, meaning that the threshold for detecting different concentrations of four basic tastes was improved,” the study’s lead author told Gizmodo. , Mojca Jensterle Sever.

The team also found that cells in the tongues of people taking semaglutide experienced changes in the expression of genes related to sweet perception and taste bud turnover. And via MRI scans, they discovered changes in how users’ brains responded to sweet taste, particularly in the angular gyrus of the parietal cortex. THE angular gyrus It is thought to help integrate our different senses to better understand the world around us and solve problems, while the parietal cortex is known to have cells carrying GLP-1 receptors.

The team’s findings are being presented this weekend at ENDO 2024 and have therefore not yet been subjected to the usual peer review process. Sever notes that their research is only a proof-of-concept study, intended to show that there is something more to explore, not to definitively confirm a phenomenon. Since taste perception can vary greatly from person to person, it is also possible that GLP-1 drugs do not affect everyone’s taste buds in the same way.

But research has suggested that at least some obese people perceive sweetness less intensely than usual, which could then help stimulate their craving for even sweeter, often higher-calorie, foods. GLP-1 drugs are thought to help treat obesity in several ways, for example by causing a feeling of fullness earlier than before in a meal. And it’s certainly possible that boosting people’s sensitivity to sweetness is another, the authors say.

“Our study provides insight into additional mechanisms by which semaglutide and other incretin-based therapies facilitate changes in food preferences and eating behavior that could potentially lead to reductions in body weight beyond “from appetite suppression and better control over eating,” Sever said.

Future studies, which will hopefully address the limitations of current research, “will help clarify whether the effectiveness of semaglutide in treating obesity is also a matter of taste,” she added.