Sex Differences in the Efficacy of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists for Weight Reduction: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Yang. Yucheng Y; He. Liyun L; Han. Shumeng S; Yang. Na N; Liu. Yiwen Y; Wang. Xuechen X; Li. Ziyi Z; Ping. Fan F; Xu. Lingling L; Li. Wei W; Zhang. Huabing H; Li. Yuxiu Y
Key Findings
- Across 14 trials, women lost on average about 1 kg (or 1.7%) more than men on GLP‑1 receptor agonists.
- The gender gap was strongest with drugs aimed at obesity and with dulaglutide and semaglutide; exenatide showed no difference.
- Factors such as dose, treatment duration, baseline weight, or type of control did not affect the sex difference.
Practical Outcomes
- If you’re a male biohacker using GLP‑1 drugs for weight loss, expect slightly less weight drop than female peers, especially at higher overall loss. Choose drugs like dulaglutide or semaglutide if you want the most pronounced gender effect, but don’t rely on dose or treatment length to close the gap. Plan expectations and monitoring accordingly, but the findings don’t suggest changing the standard dosing regimen.
Summary
A big review of studies found that women tend to lose a bit more weight than men when they take GLP‑1 drugs like dulaglutide, semaglutide, or the newer retatrutide. The difference gets bigger the more total weight is lost, especially when the drug is used specifically for obesity. Other factors like dose, treatment length, or starting weight didn’t change this gender gap.
Abstract
To verify sex differences of GLP-1RAs for weight reduction. We searched RCTs reporting weight change by sex from PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials registries. Meta-regression was performed to evaluate the association between weight reduction and sex differences. Subgroup analyses were stratified by individual GLP-1RA medications, dose, treatment duration, indication, type of control, background treatment, and baseline weight. The study protocol was registered (CRD42023480167). Fourteen studies covering dulaglutide, exenatide, liraglutide, semaglutide, and retatrutide were included in this study. The meta-analysis showed that females lost more weight than males (MD 1.04 kg [95% CIs 0.70-1.38]; MD 1.69% [95% CI 0.78-2.61]). The pooled results of GLP-1RAs indicated similar results (MD 0.88 kg [95% CIs 0.67-1.09]). Meta-regression illustrated that substantial weight reduction was significantly relevant to greater gender differences (β = -0.19 [95% CIs -0.29 to -0.09]). Subgroup analysis demonstrated that indications for weight reduction increased the gender difference in weight reduction (MD 4.21 kg [95% CIs 1.75-6.67]). Background treatment, dose, duration of treatment, baseline weight, and type of control had no subgroup differences in the sex difference in weight reduction of GLP-1RAs. Dulaglutide (MD 0.88 kg [95% CIs 0.63-1.12]) and semaglutide (MD 1.04 kg [95% CIs 0.45-1.63]) showed statistically significant differences in weight reduction between males and females. No gender difference was observed in the exenatide subgroup analysis. Females lost more weight than males when treated with GLP-1RAs for weight reduction. The sex difference in weight reduction became more pronounced as the degree of weight reduction increased. Indications for obesity could magnify this sex difference.
Study Information
pubmed
2025
2025-03-01T00:00:00.000Z
10.1111/1753-0407.70063
15
45