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The following is a summary of “Improvement of irritable bowel syndrome with glucagon like peptide-1 receptor agonists: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” published in the March 2025 issue of Frontiers in Endocrinology by Mostafa and Alrasheed. 

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a severe gastrointestinal disorder, was understood to be impacted by Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptors, and and its analog ROSE-010 were shown to reduce gut motility in affected patients.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess the efficacy and safety of GLP-1 receptor agonists in relieving pain and symptoms in individuals with IBS.  

They searched across multiple databases, including Cochrane Library, Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar, and Science Direct, to identify studies on IBS and related medications. A search strategy incorporating keywords and medical subject heading terms (MeSH) was designed to maximize inclusivity. Studies were excluded if they were non-English books, conference papers, case reports, in vitro studies, animal studies, or non-original research articles.  

The results showed that ROSE-010 (100 µg) significantly reduced pain intensity in individuals with IBS compared to a placebo, with an overall odds ratio of 2.30 (95% CI: 1.53-3.46) and ROSE-010 (300 µg) demonstrated greater effectiveness than placebo across all IBS subtypes, with consistent findings across multiple trials. However, ROSE-010 was associated with a higher occurrence of nausea, vomiting, and headache compared to the placebo.  

Investigators concluded that ROSE-010 reduced IBS pain but caused nausea, vomiting, and headaches, necessitating careful monitoring and personalized treatment. 

Source: frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2025.1548346/full