No More Nausea: New Discovery Could Reduce the Side Effects of Ozempic and Wegovy

Research suggests the potential for creating a new medication that suppresses appetite without causing nausea.
The next chapter in the story of headline-making popular obesity drugs could focus on understanding the physical sensation of fullness after eating compared to the brain’s regulation of nausea. Researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center have identified a group of neurons in the brain that manage food consumption without inducing nausea in animal models, distinguishing the beneficial aspects of these drugs from their side effects.

The study, published in the journal Nature, describes two distinct neural circuits that govern different effects of the same drug. The drugs studied are among the most effective weight-loss drugs available — known as long-acting glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP1R) agonists — which initiate neurochemical responses via receptors expressed in the body.