There may be a correlation between the intake of semaglutide, the active ingredient in a well-known drug used to treat diabetes and obesity, and suicidal tendencies. The hypothesis is explored in depth in a recent pharmacovigilance study published in the journal “JAMA Network open”, led by Georgios Schoretsanitis, a psychiatrist and researcher at Zucker Hillside Hospital in New York, with the participation of Corrado Barbui and Chiara Gastaldon, from the Psychiatry section of the Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences at the University of Verona.
The study used the World Health Organization (WHO) global database of suspected adverse drug reactions and analyzed reports of adverse events involving suicidal thoughts, self-harm, and suicidal-self-harm behavior or attempts associated with semaglutide and liraglutide between November 2000 and August 2023. They found 107 cases of people with suicidal ideation linked to semaglutide and 162 to liraglutide.
According to the researchers, “semaglutide is disproportionately associated with reports of suicidal ideation. This association remained statistically significant even when patients were taking other medications such as antidepressants or benzodiazepines, while it was not significant in people not taking antidepressants, suggesting a possible increased risk in people with depression or a history of depression as well as diabetes and obesity. Furthermore, the disproportion was significantly higher for semaglutide compared to other antidiabetic drugs for type 2 diabetes and obesity such as dapagliflozin, metformin, and orlistat.”
However, further investigations are urgently needed “to clarify the potential risks and establish whether there is indeed a causal link in this correlation. This result is particularly concerning given the widespread and expanding use of semaglutide for both diabetes management and obesity management. Based on these results – concludes Gastaldon – we suggest that physicians inform their patients about the risks of the drugs and evaluate the psychiatric history and mental status of patients before starting treatment with semaglutide”.