The recent STEP trials reported blood pressure reductions for obese patients treated with semaglutide. We analyzed a cohort of patients attending our hypertension clinic and found that 26% were severely or morbidly obese and morbidly obese patients frequently had resistant hypertension (41%). We suggest semaglutide may be an effective anti-hypertensive agent for obese patients with resistant hypertension and this hypothesis should be assessed in randomized clinical trials.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Rubino D, Abrahamsson N, Davies M, Hesse D, Greenway FL, Jensen C, et al. Effect of Continued Weekly Subcutaneous Semaglutide vs Placebo on Weight Loss Maintenance in Adults With Overweight or Obesity: the STEP 4 Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2021;325:1414–25.
Kennedy C, Farnan R, Stinson J, Hall M, Hemeryck L, O’Connor P, et al. Referrals to, and characteristics of patients attending a specialist hypertension clinic. J Hum Hypertens. 2021;Mar 8:1–10.
Williams B, Mancia G, Spiering W, Agabiti Rosei E, Azizi M, Burnier M, et al. 2018 ESC/ESH Guidelines for the management of arterial hypertension. Eur Heart J. 2018;39:3021–104.
Irish Heart Foundation, Cardiovascular Disease. https://irishheart.ie/heart-and-stroke-conditions-a-z/cardiovascular-disease/#section-definition. Accessed 10/04/2021.
Gorostegi-Anduaga I, Corres P, MartinezAguirre-Betolaza A, Pérez-Asenjo J, Aispuru GR, Fryer SM, et al. Effects of different aerobic exercise programmes with nutritional intervention in sedentary adults with overweight/obesity and hypertension: EXERDIET-HTA study. Eur J Preventive Cardiol. 2018;25:343–53.
Heymsfield SB, Wadden TA. Mechanisms, pathophysiology, and management of obesity. N Engl J Med. 2017;376:254–66.
Lakkis JI, Weir MR. Obesity and Kidney Disease. Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 2018;61:157–67.
Wilding JPH, Batterham RL, Calanna S, Davies M, Van Gaal LF, Lingvay I, et al. Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity. N Engl J Med. 2021;384:989–1002.
Kario K, Ferdinand KC, O’Keefe JH. Control of 24-hour blood pressure with SGLT2 inhibitors to prevent cardiovascular disease. Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 2020;63:249–62.
Lee PC, Ganguly S, Goh SY. Weight loss associated with sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibition: a review of evidence and underlying mechanisms. Obes Rev. 2018;19:1630–41.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
CK was responsible for study concept and design, data acquisition, interpretation and analysis, drafting of the paper and final approval. RF was responsible for study concept and design, data acquisition and analysis, drafting of the paper and final approval. JS was responsible for study concept and design, data acquisition and interpretation, critical revision of the paper and final approval. POC, M Hall, M Hennessy and MB were responsible for study supervision, data acquisition and interpretation, critical review of the paper and final approval.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors report no relationships that could be construed as a competing interests. JS is a clinical specialist at the clinic while also working in pharmaceutical industry. His employer does not manufacture anti-hypertensive medications.
Ethics approval
Ethical approval was granted by the Tallaght Hospital Research Ethics Committee.
Informed consent
Informed consent was sought and provided by all study participants.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kennedy, C., Ali, O., Farnan, R. et al. Is it time to reconsider the treatment paradigm for obese patients with hypertension?. J Hum Hypertens 36, 482–484 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-021-00630-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-021-00630-4