Can GLP-1 agonists help in heart failure and severe obesity? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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There’s a relationship between severe obesity and one type of heart failure, and it looks like it’s mediated by adding more phosphate groups, a process known as phosphorylation, to proteins in heart muscle cells, specifically to units within the muscle cells called sarcomeres. Cardiologist David Kass and colleagues at Johns Hopkins looked closely at these cells in people who were severely obese and took GLP-1 receptor agonists, commonly used for weight loss.

Kass: We found actually that the most obese patients seemed to mostly sarcomere proteins look that there were more phosphorylated. Whatever else GLP one receptor agonists may do the weight was what correlated. It does look like its ability to have you not eat as much and effectively lose weight means that whatever it was it was active it was modifying these phosphoylation sites that seemed to be turned off with weight loss.  :26

Kass says it’s good news that the process may be interrupted by these weight loss medications, and it may be reversible. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.