Abstract
Advances in the management of diabetes mellitus have come a long way in the 21st century. One of the most important developments in diabetes management has been the discovery of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists. The most common side effects of GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists are nausea and vomiting which have been attributed to delayed gastric emptying. While the effects of GLP-1R agonists on gastric emptying have prompted further research in this field, there are limited studies evaluating their effects on patients with pre-existing gastroparesis. Additionally, the frequency of GLP-1R agonist use among patients with gastroparesis has not been assessed in the past and this study aims to identify that percentage along with evaluating for possible iatrogenic gastroparesis. A retrospective review of all the gastric emptying studies performed at one academic medical center between January 2019 and January 2021 was performed. We found that although patients on GLP-1R agonists were more likely to have delayed gastric emptying, we could not establish a statistical significance. This could be due to the small sample size in the study. However, GLP-1R agonists use was associated with delayed gastric emptying in patients with diabetes for <10 years. Moreover, a significant proportion (24%) of patients with diabetes with delayed gastric emptying were on a GLP-1R agonist. Recently, semaglutide (GLP-1R agonist) gained Food and Drug Administration approval as a weight loss medication in both patients with and without diabetes. This should prompt further research to evaluate the safety profile of these medications in patients with and without pre-existing gastroparesis.
Footnotes
Contributors Concept and design of the work: MAK, TQD, GG, AD, RMcC. Analysis: LA, AKD. Drafting the paper: MAK, TQD, GG, LA. Revising the paper: MAK, RMcC, AD. Guarantor: RMcC.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests RMcC is the editor in chief of the Journal of Investigative Medicine and is a coauthor on this manuscript. AKD is an Editorial Board member.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.
Data availability statement
Data are available on reasonable request.
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