Retatrutide Cuts Knee Pain as Trial Participants Lose Weight
An experimental drug helped people with obesity and painful knee osteoarthritis lose weight and report less pain in two large clinical trials. The results point
An experimental drug helped people with obesity and painful knee osteoarthritis lose weight and report less pain in two large clinical trials. The results point to a possible treatment benefit for people managing both conditions, but retatrutide is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Weight loss and pain relief
More than 1,000 people took part in the phase 3 trials, named TRIUMPH-4 and TRIUMPH-1-OA. Participants had painful knee osteoarthritis and overweight or obesity.
Those receiving the highest dose lost about 25% of their body weight on average. In a pooled analysis, about two-thirds of participants on retatrutide had knee pain fall by at least half, compared with 38% of those given a placebo.
Knee osteoarthritis can make walking, climbing stairs and rising from a chair difficult. The trial findings suggest that substantial weight loss may accompany meaningful pain relief for some people with the condition.
What the evidence shows
The studies were phase 3 trials, a late stage of testing, and appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers also reported lower blood pressure and lipid levels, along with less systemic inflammation among participants.
The results describe outcomes during trials; they do not establish that retatrutide is an available treatment for osteoarthritis. The drug remains experimental and has not been approved by the FDA.
Orthopedic surgeon Timothy Gibson, medical director of the MemorialCare Joint Replacement Center at Orange Coast Medical Center, said the weight loss and pain change stood out. “What is most impressive here is the magnitude of weight loss achieved with retatrutide, and the associated improvement in knee pain,” he said.
