GLP-1 Drugs Add 7% Hair-Loss Risk in Genetically Susceptible Men, NYU Study Finds

Men who are already genetically at risk for the most common form of hair loss face an additional 7% risk of losing their hair if they use GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound for type 2 diabetes or obesity, according to a new study led by researchers at NYU Langone Health.

The study, published online September 3 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, focused on the GLP1R gene, which naturally raises levels of GLP-1 receptor proteins in the body and was used as an indicator of GLP-1 drug activity. Researchers compared the presence of GLP1R gene variants with those found in men with androgenetic alopecia, an inherited form of hair loss that follows a pattern along the top and front of the scalp. Because hair loss in men is far more thoroughly studied than hair loss in women, the researchers could only analyse a causal link in men.

Many GLP-1 users have reported thinning hair as a side effect, which researchers had attributed to the rapid weight loss the drugs cause; hair growth often resumes once weight stabilises. Until now, a genetic connection had only been suspected, not shown scientifically. The 7% added risk remained even after the researchers adjusted for known hair-loss risks from hypertension, insulin resistance and lowered testosterone.

Senior investigator Lynn Petukhova, of NYU Grossman School of Medicine's Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology, said the study provides "the first genetic link between GLP-1 use and an increased risk of male-pattern hair loss from androgenetic alopecia," an association long suspected but not previously shown scientifically.

Petukhova said that, if confirmed by future experiments, the findings suggest men — and possibly women — could eventually be screened for their hair-loss risk before being prescribed GLP-1 medications, or prescribed combination treatments such as minoxidil to prevent hair loss. The researchers used genetic data from the eQTLGen database of 31,684 people and the Complex Traits Genetics group database of 205,327 men, using a method called two-sample Mendelian randomization.