Many overweight persons have benefited from the widespread use of weight loss medications. However, some people lose muscle mass when they lose a lot of weight, which can raise their risk of osteoporosis.
The study’s authors, PhD student Frederik Duch Bromer and postdoc Andreas Lodberg from Aarhus University’s Department of Biomedicine, believe new research now indicates that the medication, bimagrumab, may be able to reduce some of this risk.
We are the first to study how certain drugs affect bones, and the results show that bimagrumab can increase the amount of bone tissue while building muscle mass, and this could be very important for the many people currently taking weight loss medication.
Frederik Duch Bromer and Andreas Lodberg
Bimagrumab was first created to address muscle atrophy and dysfunction, however it has subsequently been discovered that it also has a fat-burning effect. Therefore, if authorized, it might be included in a second-generation medication for weight loss.
Therefore, it’s relevant to research how this particular patient group reacts to the drug,
An estimated two billion people will be categorised as overweight by 2035, so it’s also important that we research the drugs that come on the market for this particular patient group in order to better understand their long-term impact on the body.
Andreas Lodberg
Osteoporosis can occur as a result of weight fluctuations, which are common in patients using weight loss medications. Serious fractures are more common with brittle bones, which is expensive for patients and society as a whole.
For patients on weight loss medication, the research findings may therefore be encouraging. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that bimagrumab not only prevents the loss of bone and muscle tissue, but also encourages their growth, according to Frederik Duch Bromer.
Bimagrumab slightly increases the calcium content in bones and promotes the formation of new bone in what we call the shell (cortex) of the long bones. We also saw a significant build-up of bone tissue in the area around the femoral head, which is typically where many older people incur fractures.
Frederik Duch Bromer
The findings also demonstrated that bimagrumab had no effect on blood, according to Frederik Duch Bromer. It has been demonstrated that similar medications raise the synthesis of red blood cells, which raises the risk of blood clots.
The medication is currently undergoing testing in multiple phase 2 clinical studies, and the study is based on mice that have both osteoporosis and decreased muscle mass. Andreas Lodberg emphasizes the necessity for additional research.
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Our study shows that bimagrumab has a positive effect in many areas, but we also have indications that the drug may have other side effects, and we’ll now investigate this further to get a clearer picture of the implications of using the drug for patients.
Andreas Lodberg
Frederik Duch Bromer and Andreas Lodberg expect to be able to carry out additional research to look into potential negative impacts as well as beneficial outcomes.
Source: Aarhus University – News
Journal Reference: Bromer, Frederik D., et al. “The Effect of Anti-Activin Receptor Type IIA and Type IIB Antibody on Muscle, Bone and Blood in Healthy and Osteosarcopenic Mice.” Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, vol. 16, no. 1, 2025, p. e13718, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.13718.
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