Doctors are warning about a little-known, potentially deadly, side effect linked to weight-loss injections after treating patients with liver failure.
The 24-year-old teacher had been taking high doses of Munjaro, which has similar effects to Ozempic, to lose weight.
Seven months after starting the medication, she suffered severe vomiting, nausea and stomach pains that landed her in the emergency room.
Tests showed the patient, whose name has not been released, suffered “severe” liver damage and could have died within days if not reversed.
A Kuwaiti woman suffered liver damage after taking Munjaro for seven months (stock image)
Patients who were obese and had a BMI of 34 had “alarming” levels of liver enzymes, proteins that help break down bile and toxins.
This was a sign that her organs were failing, and she was admitted to intensive care and given plasma transfusions to flush toxins from her blood.
She was referred to the transplant team because if left untreated, she was at risk of severe liver failure and a transplant was her only chance of survival.
writing European Journal of Case ReportsKuwaiti doctors who treated her said Munjaro was the “most likely cause.”
last year, A 37-year-old patient from Seattle She was treated for similar liver damage after taking the same drug, what doctors called “drug-induced liver injury.”
Experts aren’t sure exactly what causes this rare side effect, but they think that taking high doses of the drug reduces the amount of fat in the liver.
If this happens too rapidly, healthy cells can die and lead to injury.
Paradoxically, some studies have shown that tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Munjaro, may actually be able to treat liver failure.
The patient in the case report had given birth to her first child the previous year and had been taking 12 milligrams of Munjaro, gradually increasing the dose from a low level.
Dosages start at 2.5 milligrams and can increase up to 15 milligrams.
When the patient first visited the emergency department in early July, his liver function tests were normal and he was responding well to fluids and intravenous medications.
She was discharged but returned to the hospital two days later with the same symptoms and hypoglycemia.
Scans taken when the woman was admitted to hospital showed that her pancreas and other organs were normal, but her liver appeared slightly enlarged.
She tested negative for hepatitis, herpes and other viruses that have previously been linked to liver inflammation.
Doctors diagnosed her with acute liver failure, a rapid decline in liver function due to damage or stress to the organ.
She was admitted to the intensive care unit and remained there for 10 days until her liver function improved enough for her to be discharged.
The patient, who was treated in Kuwait, was advised not to take Munjaro. By the time she was discharged from hospital, her BMI had dropped from 34 to 25.
The chart above shows deaths associated with semaglutide and tirzepatide by year. Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, while tirzepatide is used in drugs such as Zepbound. The year 2024 is highlighted in yellow to indicate that data is incomplete.
Tirzepatide has not been shown in clinical trials to cause liver damage, and there is no warning label about it.
But doctors say rapid weight loss can put “stress” on the liver, causing inflammation and potentially leading to damage.
During weight loss, fat is sent from other parts of the body to the liver, where it is broken down into substances that the cells can use.
However, if too much blood is pumped at once or continuously for a long period of time, the organs can become “overworked” and cause complications.
Acute liver damage has previously been documented after bariatric surgery, such as gastric bypass, which reduces the size of the stomach, and doctors have also linked it to rapid weight loss.
Writing in the newspaper, doctors at Adan Hospital in Kuwait said: [time] Given the relationship between tirzepatide and acute liver injury, it is highly likely that this is the cause of susceptibility.
They added: “This case highlights the need for further study and frequent monitoring of liver enzymes when using tirzepatide for weight loss.”
