Peptide News Digest

#Glp-1-Side-Effects

2 stories

Research · View digest

Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle (2026): Scoping Review Maps Peptides for Skeletal Muscle Wasting — Relevant to GLP-1-Era Lean-Mass Concerns

A 2026 scoping review in the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle catalogs peptides studied as therapeutic candidates and biomarkers in skeletal muscle wasting — covering sarcopenia, cancer cachexia, and ICU-related atrophy. The review documents MIF1/MIF2 myostatin peptide inhibitors, cachexia-targeting platform peptides, and the broader role of GH-axis peptides (CJC-1295, ipamorelin, tesamorelin) in muscle homeostasis. The clinical urgency lands harder now than it did pre-2024: Nature Reviews Endocrinology recently flagged sarcopenia and frailty as under-recognized GLP-1 receptor agonist side effects, with up to 40% of GLP-1-induced weight loss attributable to lean mass in the highest-loss patients. The review surfaces non-GLP-1 peptide candidates that could be paired with incretin therapy to protect muscle.

Research · View digest

Bloomgarden in Journal of Diabetes: "Beyond GLP-1" — Tolerability Ceilings and Non-Responder Limits Drive the Next Wave

Bloomgarden's commentary in the Journal of Diabetes (2026, vol 18, e70204) frames the clinical case for moving past first-generation GLP-1 agonists, focusing on two limits: gastrointestinal intolerance that forces dose reduction or discontinuation in 15-30% of patients depending on agent and titration, and a non-responder problem where roughly 10-20% of treated individuals fail to reach the expected weight-loss range. With 12% of US adults reported to have at least temporarily received a GLP-1 agonist, the population-level stakes are large. The commentary lands alongside the Frontiers Drug Discovery 'Beyond GLP-1' review as one of two academic pieces this month formalizing the post-incretin research agenda — and aligns with the AstraZeneca ASCEND triple-mechanism thesis, the petrelintide + enicepatide combination program, and Lilly's quintuple agonist disclosed for ADA 2026.