Weight management
RTTA: published research
A synthetic peptide that activates three hormone receptors at once — GLP-1, GIP and glucagon. Most other compounds in this family act on one or two of these receptors, which is why it is studied as a 'triple agonist'. The published work is mostly controlled clinical trials looking at body weight, blood sugar and liver fat.
Evidence at a glance
4 studies 2023–2024
- 3 Human trial
- 1 Review
What researchers look at
- Appetite signalling
- Energy balance
- Blood sugar
- Liver fat
What is still unknown
The published trials are phase 2 and ran for about a year; larger and longer phase 3 results are still being reported.
Studies in people
3- Human trial
In a phase 2a substudy of adults with obesity and fatty liver disease, RTTA reduced liver fat substantially more than placebo at 24 weeks.
Sanyal AJ, et al. Triple hormone receptor agonist retatrutide for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease: a randomized phase 2a trial. Nature Medicine. 2024. PMID 38858523
- Human trial
In a 48-week phase 2 trial in adults with obesity or overweight, RTTA produced dose-dependent reductions in body weight compared with placebo.
Jastreboff AM, et al. Triple-Hormone-Receptor Agonist Retatrutide for Obesity - A Phase 2 Trial. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2023. PMID 37366315
- Human trial
In a phase 2 trial of 281 adults with type 2 diabetes, once-weekly RTTA lowered HbA1c more than placebo at all but the lowest dose and reduced body weight dose-dependently over 36 weeks; mild-to-moderate gastrointestinal side effects were reported.
Rosenstock J, et al. Retatrutide, a GIP, GLP-1 and glucagon receptor agonist, for people with type 2 diabetes: a randomised, double-blind, placebo and active-controlled, parallel-group, phase 2 trial conducted in the USA. Lancet. 2023. PMID 37385280
Reviews
1- Review
This review describes RTTA as an investigational GIP, GLP-1 and glucagon receptor agonist, cites a phase 2 obesity trial reporting average weight loss of 24.4% at 48 weeks, and notes that phase 3 evidence is still needed.
Kaur M, et al. A review of an investigational drug retatrutide, a novel triple agonist agent for the treatment of obesity. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 2024. PMID 38367045
Short summaries of published studies, with links to the original papers. Results in animals or cells may not apply to people. This is not medical advice and not a guide to use.