Ozempic, Wegovy( Semaglutide)
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It is an FDA-approved medication which helps you lose 3.1 times the weight that would not be possible through diet and exercise alone.
What is Semaglutide (Ozempic) ?
Semaglutide is an FDA-approved medication approved in 2017, which was initially developed for management of type-2 diabetes. The drug was developed by Novo Nordisk, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies with the name Ozempic . In June 2021, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of Wegovy( semaglutide) for weight loss.
How does Semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) Work?
When Semaglutide is injected, the body reacts to it as if the body naturally produced the GLP-1.Semaglutide targets appetite centers in the brain and in the gut. It regulates appetite and food intake and produces feelings of fullness. GLP-1 also acts on the brain by causing feelings of fullness (satiety) resulting in decreased hunger. When food stays in your stomach for a longer period of time, it makes you fuller and you will eat less which will promote weight loss.
What parts of the body GLP-1 receptors are produced?
GLP-1 is a hormone that is produced by our L cells in the small intestine which is released as you eat food. As you eat food, hormone incretin (which is a type of GLP-1 hormone) gets released from the small intestine and acts on stomach by binding to the receptors that are located in the lining of the stomach and delays the passage of food from stomach to small intestine causing delayed gastric emptying.
What are the active ingredients in Ozempic and Wegovy?
Ozempic and Wegovy’s active ingredient is called Semaglutide. Semaglutide is a synthetic version of the naturally occurring hormone glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1). Semaglutide is designed to mimic the natural hormone GLP-1.
What does GLP-1 hormone work in different parts of our body?
In pancreas, GLP-1 hormone stimulates insulin production and releases glucose level in the blood. The action of GLP-1 is glucose-dependent and blood glucose is only lowered by GLP-1 if blood glucose concentrations are above fasting levels.
In the liver, GLP-1 decreases glucagon production and decreases glucose production in the liver.
Glucagon is released by alpha cells from pancreas.
In the stomach, GLP-1 slows gastric emptying by making you fuller after a meal and keeps you fuller for longer period of time.
In brain,central nervous system, GLP-1 receptors are located in the hypothalamus, which is involved in regulating food intake. It acts on appetite centers in the brain and produces feelings of fullness. Feeding areas of the brain decrease food intake and curbs appetite.
How long has the GLP-1 receptor in the market?
The first GLP-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) was exenatide, which was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in April 2005 for the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
In the central nervous system, GLP-1 receptors are located in the hypothalamus, which is involved in regulating food intake, found that acute administration of the GLP-1RA resulted in reduced feelings of hunger.
Ozempic acts as a GLP-1 receptor agonist that selectively binds to and activates the GLP-1 receptor. GLP-1 receptor agonist that works by simulating the effects of the hormone your body produces when you eat food, called incretin.
After you eat a big meal, your body releases a hormone called incretin which signals the feeling of fullness and tells your brain to stop eating.
In addition, it also helps to prevent the effects of insulin resistance which also contributes to a feeling of fullness and reduces cravings for sugary or unhealthy foods.
How does Semaglutide help suppress appetite, cause satiety and help you lose weight?
Semaglutide acts on appetite centers in the brain and in the gut, and produces feelings of fullness. It stimulates insulin secretion and lowers glucagon secretion, both in a glucose-dependent manner. Thus, when blood glucose is high, insulin secretion is stimulated and glucagon secretion is inhibited. The mechanism of blood glucose lowering also involves a minor delay in gastric emptying in the early postprandial phase.
How much weight have people lost with the use of semaglutide?
With the help of diet and exercise, Semaglutide has been shown to have remarkable weight loss properties.Clinical studies showed that many people were able to lose 15% to 20% of their starting weight with the use of semaglutide.
What are GLP-1 receptor agonists also called incretin mimetic hormone ?
GLP-1 receptor agonists are also called incretin mimetic. Because as we eat, hormone incretin gets released from our small intestine , goes to the pancreas (B cells) and causes it to make more insulin. Incretin is normally released from the small intestine after eating and slows down the process in which food leaves the stomach and decreases blood glucose.
Incretin hormones play a crucial role in stimulating insulin and glucagon secretion by the pancreas. There are two known incretins: glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) produced by the K cells of an upper gut and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) produced by the L cells of a lower gut. Together, they are responsible for an “incretin effect”, which refers to the observation of two- to three-fold higher insulin secretion after oral glucose intake.