Semaglutide use linked to eye condition, but the risk may be lower than we thought

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2025-02-21 03:00

International

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Diabetes and weight loss drug semaglutide (Ozempic and WeGovy) has again been linked with an increased risk of an eye condition that causes vision loss, but the risk may not be as high as we previously thought, according to international researchers. Non-Arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy (NAION) is a condition that typically causes sudden vision loss in one eye due to a loss of blood flow to the optic nerve, and people with diabetes are at a higher risk. The study which looked at the health records of over 37 million people, found a small increase in the incidence of NAION from exposure to semaglutide compared with non-exposure. The researchers say the increased risk of NAION was smaller than the risk that had previously been reported. While additional studies are needed, the researchers urged doctors to weigh this risk against the many therapeutic benefits of semaglutide.

Media release

From: JAMA

Semaglutide and Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy

JAMA Ophthalmology
Original Investigation

About The Study: The results of this study suggest a modest increase in the risk of nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy among individuals with type 2 diabetes associated with semaglutide use, smaller than that previously reported, and warranting further investigation into the clinical implications of this association.

Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Cindy X. Cai, MD, MS, email ccai6@jhmi.edu.

(doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2024.6555)

Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Ophthalmology

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, USA

Funder: This work was supported in part by grant K23EY033440 from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Eye Institute (NEI) (Dr Cai); grants DP5OD029610 and OT2OD032644 from the NIH (Dr Baxter); grant K23 EY033831 from the NEI (Dr Swaminathan); grant K23 EY032985 from NIH/NEI and grant UL1TR001855 from NIH/National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) (Dr Toy); grant K12 GCAEI0492E from NIH/NEI (Dr Chen); grant K23 EY03263501 from NIH/NEI (DrWang); grants R01AG060942 and OT2OD032644 from NIH (Dr C. Lee); grant P30-EY026877 from NIH (Dr Leng) grant R61AG089063 from X (Dr Ehrlich); this work was supported using resources and facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Informatics and Computing Infrastructure, funded under the research priority to Put VA Data toWork for Veterans (VA ORD 22-D4V); the NIH/National Library of Medicine T15 program (Dr Martin); grant 1K01HL168222 from NIH/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (Dr Stocking); grant UL1TR002369 from NIH/NCATS (Dr Adibuzzaman); grant U24 HD113136-01 from NIH (Dr Nagy); grants R01 HL169954 and R01HL167858 from NIH (Dr Suchard); and grant R01 LM006910 from X (Dr Hripcsak).

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