GLP-1 Evidence

Not medical advice. A record of published research and our assessments of it. The limits

Intrathecal semaglutide attenuates burn injury-induced pain in mice through a spinal GLP-1R-linked enkephalin/δ-opioid receptor pathway

Design
Animal study · Unknown outcome
Match to healthy normal-weight adults aged 55–75
Not human evidence[Auto] Non-human (animal or cellular) evidence; no direct inference to any human population.
Could weight loss explain it?
Unknown[Auto] Non-human study; weight-loss mediation not assessable.
Study tier
Study tier 4[Auto] Preclinical evidence; not clinical evidence for any human population.
Assessment
Version 1 · automatic, not yet reviewed by a person · Sep 13, 2026

Study facts come from the paper. Population match, weight-loss explanation and study tier are our judgments, made against the reference group of healthy normal-weight adults aged 55–75.

[Auto, unreviewed; last sentences of abstract] Moreover, enkephalin neutralization and DOR antagonism attenuated semaglutide-induced antinociception. Together, these findings support a functional spinal enkephalin/DOR pathway linked to intrathecal semaglutide treatment and consistent with GLP-1R involvement in BIP.

01Findings

What the study reported

Drugs
Semaglutide
Primary outcome
Not extracted
Effect
Not extracted
95% confidence interval
Not extracted
Follow-up
Not stated
Adverse events
Not extracted
Limitations
Auto-classified from abstract only; effect estimates, adverse events and limitations not extracted. Requires manual review.

Who was studied

Study quality details

Study design
Preclinical (animal)
Sample size
not extracted
Randomization
no
Blinding
not stated
Comparator
not stated
Follow up duration
not stated
Outcome type
unknown
Replication
not assessed (auto)
Consistency with other evidence
not assessed (auto)
Population applicability
VERY_INDIRECT
Statistical precision
not extracted
Risk of bias
not assessed (auto)
Funding conflicts
unclear
Peer review status
yes
02Funding

Funding and conflicts

Funding
not reported in abstract
Industry funded
Unclear
Manufacturer
None identified
Sponsor role
not reported in abstract
Author conflicts
Declaration of competing interests The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Independent replication
unknown

Funding is shown on every study and never used to score it.

04Source

The source, as retrieved

Abstract

Burn injury-induced pain (BIP) is a complex condition whose spinal mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Although spinal glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) signaling has been implicated in pain modulation, its contribution to BIP remains unclear. Using a mouse model of second-degree burn injury, we characterized nociceptive behaviors, spinal glial responses, and the temporal and cellular distribution of GLP-1R using immunoblotting, immunofluorescence, and RNAscope in situ hybridization. We then evaluated the antinociceptive effects of intrathecal semaglutide, their sensitivity to pharmacological GLP-1R antagonism, and the functional contribution of endogenous enkephalin/δ-opioid receptor (DOR) signaling. Burn injury increased spinal GLP-1R expression during the peak phase of pain hypersensitivity. GLP-1R immunoreactivity and Glp1r transcripts showed a substantial association with GFAP-positive astrocytic profiles, while detectable signals were also present in microglia and neurons. Intrathecal semaglutide attenuated mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia, and these effects were reduced by pharmacological GLP-1R antagonism. Acute semaglutide responsiveness was also observed in female mice. Semaglutide increased spinal Penk mRNA and enkephalin immunoreactivity in vivo and increased Penk expression and extracellular enkephalin levels in primary spinal astrocyte-enriched cultures. In spinal tissue, enkephalin immunoreactivity was more frequently associated with GFAP-positive profiles than with Iba1-or NeuN-positive profiles. Moreover, enkephalin neutralization and DOR antagonism attenuated semaglutide-induced antinociception. Together, these findings support a functional spinal enkephalin/DOR pathway linked to intrathecal semaglutide treatment and consistent with GLP-1R involvement in BIP.

Where this record came from

SourceRetrievedIdentifier
pubmedSep 13, 202642669356
first ingestion