‘How drunk do you feel?’: Ozempic, Wegovy may help reduce alcohol use, Virginia Tech researchers find

There’s mounting evidence that popular drugs prescribed for diabetes management and weight loss — better known by trade names like Ozempic and Wegovy — could be effective in reducing alcohol use.

A study from the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, released this month in Scientific Reports, found that these types of GLP-1 agonists slow the speed at which alcohol enters the bloodstream, which also slows the effects on the brain.

“People who drink know there’s a difference between nursing a glass of wine and downing a shot of whiskey,” said Alex DiFeliceantonio, assistant professor and interim co-director of the FBRI’s Center for Health Behaviors Research.

A standard serving of either has 0.6 ounces of alcohol, but the shot brings a rapid increase in blood-alcohol content. It feels different because of the way the body handles alcohol over time.

“Why would this matter? Faster-acting drugs have a higher abuse potential,” DiFeliceantonio said. “They have a different impact on the brain. So if GLP-1s slow alcohol entering the bloodstream, they could reduce the effects of alcohol and help people drink less.”

More than half of U.S. adults drink alcohol, and roughly one in 10 has alcohol use disorder. Long-term, chronic alcohol use is associated with health-related illnesses such as high blood pressure, cancer, and heart and liver disease. In January, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released an advisory highlighting alcohol use as the third leading preventable cause of cancer, after tobacco use and obesity.

Despite consuming similar doses of alcohol calculated to increase breath alcohol concentration to approximately 0.08 percent, concentration increased more slowly in participants taking semaglutide, tirzepatide, or liraglutide. Participants in that group also reported feeling less intoxicated on subjective measures.

The research, supported by funding from Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, sought to better understand the physical and subjective experience of alcohol traveling through the body of someone taking a GLP-1. The study provides important early data to guide the design of larger, more rigorous studies testing whether GLP-1 drugs can help reduce alcohol use.

Twenty participants with a BMI of 30 or greater, half on a maintenance dose of GLP-1s and half taking no medication, were recruited from Roanoke, Virginia, and surrounding areas. They fasted before arriving for the study, then they were given a snack bar to standardize caloric intake and stomach contents.

Researchers gathered blood pressure, pulse, breath alcohol concentration, and blood glucose levels. Ninety minutes later, participants were served an alcoholic beverage that had to be consumed within 10 minutes. Researchers then measured breath alcohol and participants answered questions about cravings, appetite, alcohol effects, and taste. For example, they were asked to rate, on a scale of zero to 10, “How drunk do you feel right now?” This was repeated three times over 60 minutes.

The participants on GLP-1s consistently reported feeling less intoxicated.

Following the session, participants remained in a recovery room as the alcohol was metabolized. Breath alcohol was measured every 30 minutes, blood glucose was measured twice, and three hours after the session participants again answered subjective questions. After four hours, a breath alcohol content below .02 percent, and the study physician’s approval, the participant was OK’d to leave.

“Other medications designed to help reduce alcohol intake” — naltrexone and acamprosate — “act on the central nervous system,” said DiFeliceantonio, the study’s corresponding author. “Our preliminary data suggest that GLP-1s suppress intake through a different mechanism.”

The drugs slow gastric emptying, which can lead to a slower rise in blood alcohol.

The idea for the study initially bubbled up during a Fralin Biomedical Research Institute faculty retreat and was led by Warren Bickel, professor and director of the Addiction Recovery Research Center, who died in 2024.

It built on an analysis of social media posts on the community network Reddit, in which users reported reduced cravings for alcohol when taking drugs intended to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity. 

“His guidance shaped every stage of this research — from the initial idea to its final form — and his passion for scientific discovery continues to inspire me every day,” said Fatima Quddos, a graduate researcher in Bickel’s lab and the first author on both studies.

“Bickel’s work had long focused on what happens when you delay rewards, so we asked, ‘What if GLP-1s affect how the body handles alcohol?’” DiFeliceantonio said. “Ending this project was bittersweet, because it was my last collaboration with him.”

“He was always asking, ‘How do we help people the fastest?’ Using a drug that’s already shown to be safe to help people reduce drinking could be a way to get people help fast,” DiFeliceantonio said.

While this was a pilot study, researchers said the findings showed clear differences between groups and provide early data that support larger trials testing the drugs as a therapy for people who want to reduce their alcohol use.

“As a recent graduate, I’m deeply inspired by the potential this research holds — not only for advancing our scientific understanding, but also for paving the way toward future therapies,” said Quddos, who earned her doctorate from Virginia Tech’s Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program in May. “The possibility of offering new hope to individuals struggling with addiction is what makes this work so meaningful.”

 

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