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. 2025 Jul 19.
doi: 10.1007/s12664-025-01835-y. Online ahead of print.

Efficacy of tirzepatide for weight loss and it's comparative effectiveness to weight loss surgery in inflammatory bowel disease

Aakash Desai  1   2 , Himsikhar Khataniar  3 , Fjona Tabaku  4 , Jana G Hashash  5 , Francis A Farraye  5 , Gursimran S Kochhar  4
Affiliations

Efficacy of tirzepatide for weight loss and it's comparative effectiveness to weight loss surgery in inflammatory bowel disease

Aakash Desai et al. Indian J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Background and aims: There is limited data about tirzepatide's (TZP) efficacy for weight loss in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the US Collaborative Network in patients with IBD on TZP between January 5, 2022 and December 31, 2023. The objective was to assess mean total body weight (TBW) change in pounds (lbs) in the IBD TZP cohort compared to the non-IBD TZP cohort and IBD cohort with weight loss surgery (WLS) from baseline to between six and 15 months. 1:1 propensity score matching was performed for demographics, comorbid conditions, body mass index (BMI) and body weight.

Results: There were 274 patients in the IBD TZP cohort (mean age 53.6 ± 11.9, 66.4% diabetes mellitus, BMI 38.3 ± 7.7 kg/m2). There was no difference in the TBW change between the IBD and non-IBD cohort on TZP (-21 lbs [ 95% CI -30 to -12] vs. -21 lbs [-30 to -11], p = 1.0). There was no difference in the TBW based on time interval, IBD type, IBD medications, surgery and TZP dose. There was a lower TBW change compared to the IBD WLS cohort (-21 lbs [-36 to -5] vs. -55 lbs [-68 to -41], p < 0.0001). There was higher TBW change with 15 mg TZP (-29 lbs [-45 to -12]) compared to 5-10 mg TZP (-15 lbs [-36 to 6]), however, lower compared to the IBD WLS cohort.

Conclusion: TZP use was associated with a similar mean weight loss of > 10% in patients with IBD compared to patients without IBD, however lower compared to WLS.

Keywords: Inflammatory bowel disease; Tirzepatide; Weight loss; Weight-loss surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: AD, HK, FT and JGH have no conflict of interest to declare. FAF: Consulting Fee: Astellas, Avalo Therapeutics, Bausch, BMS, Braintree Labs, Fresenius Kabi, GI Reviewers, GSK, IBD Educational Group, Iterative Health, Janssen, Pharmacosmos, Pfizer, Sandoz Immunology, Viatris. GSK: Advisory board – CoreVetas Research, Eli Lilly, GIE Medical; Consultant – Boston Scientific Endoscopy, Olympus Endoscopy, Pentax Endoscopy; Speaker – Eli Lilly; Stock options – DigBi Health. Ethics statement: The study was performed conforming to the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 and 2008 concerning human and animal rights, and the authors followed the policy concerning informed consent as shown on Springer.com. Disclaimer: The authors are solely responsible for the data and the content of the paper. In no way, the Honorary Editor-in-Chief, Editorial Board Members, the Indian Society of Gastroenterology, printer/publishers, or are responsible for the results/findings and content of this article.

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