Effect of survodutide, a glucagon and GLP-1 receptor dual agonist, on weight loss: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Considering the increasing prevalence of obesity/overweight, its treatment or prevention with new interventions can greatly help health and reduce its adverse effects in people. One of these new interventions is investigating the effect of Survodutide as a dual agonist of glucagon and GLP-1 receptors, which seems to be able to influence weight loss processes in different ways. In this study, we investigated the effect of injectable Survodutide on weight loss.

Methods: In order to identify all randomized controlled trials that investigated the effects of Survodutide on factores related to obesity, a systematic search was conducted in the original databases using predefined keywords until August 2024. The pooled weighted mean difference and 95% confidence intervals were computed using the random-effects model.

Results: The Findings from 18 treatment arms with 1029 participants indicated significant reductions in weight (WMD: -8.33 kg; 95% CI: -10.80, -5.86; I² = 99.6%), body mass index (BMI) (WMD:-4.03 kg/m²; 95% CI: -4.86, -3.20; I2 = 72.7%), and waist circumferences (WC) (WMD: -6.33 cm; 95% CI: -8.85 to -3.81; I² = 99.5%) following the Survodutide injection compared to the control group. Subgroup analysis reveals that longer interventions (more than 16 weeks) and higher doses (more than 2 mg/week) of Survodutide are associated with more significant reductions in weight and WC. These results were also observed in the meta-regression analysis.

Conclusions: The results of this meta-analysis show that Survodutide is effective in reducing weight, BMI and waist circumference, especially with longer interventions and higher doses.