Hong Kong university rejects GLP-1 link to blindness in 80,000 patients

Meta-analysis examines optic nerve risk across diabetes and cardiac patients

The Department of Medicine under the School of Clinical Medicine at the LKS Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) said a large-scale review of global clinical trial data found no significant association between GLP-1 receptor agonist use and ischaemic optic neuropathy, according to a press release.

The meta-analysis included more than 80,000 patients with diabetes and heart disease and examined the incidence of vision-threatening optic nerve complications as use of GLP-1 therapies expands across cardiometabolic indications, the university said.

The findings clarify the risk profile of GLP-1 receptor agonists amid earlier studies that had suggested a possible link between the drug class and optic nerve damage, according to the research team.

In a separate analysis, data from 5,415 patients with atrial fibrillation showed that among patients with obesity, each 1% reduction in body weight was associated with a 6.3% reduction in the relative risk of arrhythmia recurrence following catheter ablation, the university reported.