Semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, has been shown to reduce the risk of adverse cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes. However, the potential of semaglutide to reduce cardiovascular risk associated with overweight and obesity in the absence of diabetes is unknown.
The study, known as the Semaglutide Effects on Cardiovascular Outcomes in People With Overweight or Obesity (SELECT) trial, enrolled patients 45 years of age or older who had preexisting cardiovascular disease and a body-mass index (BMI) of 27 or greater but no history of diabetes. Participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide at a dose of 2.4 mg or placebo. The primary cardiovascular end point was a composite of death from cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke in a time-to-first-event analysis.
The study found that semaglutide was superior to placebo in reducing the incidence of the primary cardiovascular end point in patients with preexisting cardiovascular disease and overweight or obesity but without diabetes.