ArticleCureus2026
Musculoskeletal Adverse Event Signals Associated With Semaglutide, Liraglutide, and Tirzepatide in the US FDA Adverse Event Reporting System.
Article in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundGlucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) are widely prescribed for type 2 diabetes and obesity, yet their musculoskeletal reporting profile remains incompletely characterized. Lean-mass loss during treatment has raised concern about muscle atrophy and related complications.
methodsIn this retrospective cross-sectional pharmacovigilance study, we analyzed 20,006,989 safety reports in the Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) with initial receipt dates through January 27, 2026. Semaglutide, liraglutide, tirzepatide, and six dipeptidyl peptidase-4 or sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors were each evaluated against all other eligible FAERS reports. These were not direct comparisons between drugs. Reporting odds ratios (RORs) and proportional reporting ratios (PRRs) were calculated across 30 Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities preferred terms. Signals were defined using the ROR criterion, with PRR providing supporting evidence.
resultsEight ROR-defined signals were identified among the three incretin-based therapies. Muscle atrophy showed the strongest disproportionality for semaglutide (ROR 3.96, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.42-4.59; n = 182) and tirzepatide (ROR 2.29, 95% CI 1.96-2.67; n = 163), and both met the ROR and PRR thresholds. Additional lower-magnitude ROR signals included back pain, muscle spasms, and neck pain for semaglutide, and back pain, osteoarthritis, and neck pain for liraglutide. The muscle atrophy signal persisted in serious-report analyses for semaglutide (ROR 2.63; n = 85) and tirzepatide (ROR 2.06; n = 33). Among reports with recorded sex, female patients accounted for 1,398 of 2,187 liraglutide reports (63.9%), 2,654 of 3,853 semaglutide reports (68.9%), and 1,816 of 2,294 tirzepatide reports (79.2%).
conclusionsSemaglutide and tirzepatide showed muscle atrophy reporting signals that persisted when the analysis was restricted to reports classified as serious. Prospective studies are needed to investigate these findings. These data cannot show whether the drugs cause muscle atrophy or how often it occurs among treated patients.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.