Study wrapper · #1224
Effect of Semaglutide on the Inflammatory Biomarker High-Sensitivity CRP in Patients With Established Cardiovascular Disease and Overweight or Obesity in SELECT: A Prespecified Secondary Analysis.
Editor's note
As a prespecified analysis of a very large randomized trial, this sits near the top of the evidence hierarchy for the GLP-1 class. The timing signal is the substantive finding: inflammation markers fell early and independently of weight change, statin use, and LDL levels, which weakens a weight-loss-only account of the cardiovascular results. It remains a biomarker association, and the authors are careful to say inflammation may have contributed only in part to the event reduction.
Plain-language abstract
This is a planned secondary analysis of SELECT, a randomized trial of semaglutide in 17,604 people with existing cardiovascular disease and overweight or obesity but not diabetes. Participants with higher baseline hsCRP, a blood marker of inflammation, went on to have more cardiovascular events. Semaglutide lowered hsCRP by about 38% at two years, and the drop appeared within four to eight weeks, before substantial weight loss, and also occurred in people who lost little weight.