New light shed on who benefits most from weight-loss jabsBy Philippa Roxby People who carry variations in two genes linked to appetite and digestion can lose moreweight when taking drugs to treat obesity, research suggests. The findings, outlined in the Naturejournal, could explain why some people lose far more weight than others and why some haveparticularly bad side-effects, such as nausea and vomiting, while taking them. The popular medicines remove feelings of hunger by acting like a natural gut hormone thatmakes users feel full. While genes may play a relatively modest role in influencing how well thesedrugs work, experts say other factors such as your sex, age and even where you come from canalso have an impact. It is thought at least 1.6 million people in the UK have tried weight-loss drugs in the pastyear, and that number is expected to rise. Most are being bought privately through onlinepharmacies. The percentage of body weight lost when taking weight-loss medication can vary widely.In this study, based on the experiences of 15,000 people taking weight-loss medications, theylost an average of 11.7% of their body weight during roughly eight months of treatment. Somelost 30% of their weight, while others lost little or nothing. All of those 15,000 had previously signed up for gene-testing by the company 23andMe,which used that data to chart the experiences of people taking weight-loss drugs. By analysingmillions of their genetic variants, the researchers found a pattern suggesting a link betweensome variants and the effectiveness of the drugs. Professor Ruth Loos, from the University of Copenhagen, who wrote about the research inNature journal, said: “The study found a genetic variant associated with weight loss, which wasalso associated with nausea”. “People lose more weight if they have this variant.” And that extra lost weight amounted toabout 0.76 kg (1.6 lbs) on average—but those people who carry two copies of the genes candouble the amount they lose. The variant is high in people with European ancestry—64% carry one copy, while 16% ofpeople carry two copies, she says. That compares to 7% of African Americans who carry a copyof the gene. “If you carry the variant, you will lose more weight,” says Prof Loos. The study found another variant that could be responsible for people experiencingside-effects such as nausea and vomiting when taking tirzepatide. And that could mean up to1% of people taking the drug will have really bad vomiting—nearly 15 times worse than normal. Prof Loos said the genetic effect, while modest, “is similar to other factors—and not trivial”.However, she said the findings need to be reproduced in other studies and, to date, that has nothappened. For Dr Marie Spreckley, from the University of Cambridge, “genetics is only one part of amuch more complex picture”. In the long term, taking genetic and other information togethercould help guide the choice of which weight-loss drug to use, based on the potentialbenefits—something called “precision medicine”. But we are not there yet, said Professor Naveed Sattar, metabolic health expert from theUniversity of Glasgow. “Overall, these findings are scientifically interesting, but they are a longway from changing clinical practice,” he said. “What we really need now is more robust trial datato better define the balance of benefits and harms with these and many other emerging newertherapies”.(Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn5317dkqnxo – text specially adapted for this test). In the sentence “While genes may play a relatively modest role” (l. 06), the modal verb “may” expresses:

In the sentence “While genes may play a relatively modest...

Q4469955

In the sentence “While genes may play a relatively modest role” (l. 06), the modal verb “may” expresses:

Absolute certainty.

Logical obligation.

Past habit.

Possibility.