Patients with alcohol use disorder who use GLP-1 receptor agonists for type 2 diabetes or obesity have a lower risk of alcohol-related hospitalisations than those on other treatments, research suggests.

The study used retrospective cohort data to emulate a randomised controlled trial for 41,000 adults with alcohol use disorder (AUD) across four arms, comparing the impact of the two newer GLP-1 receptor agonists (RAs) semaglutide or tirzepatide with other medicines.

These included older GLP-1 RAs, such as liraglutide, or other diabetes treatments, such as SGLT2 inhibitors; older GLP-1 RAs or other obesity treatments, such as orlistat; and AUD treatments, such as naltrexone, both for patients with obesity and for patients with diabetes.

The study, published in the BMJ, tracked patients for up to one year after treatment initiation for ED presentations or hospital inpatient encounters involving an alcohol-related diagnosis or testing for blood alcohol, ethyl glucuronide or ethyl sulfate levels.