Journal of obesity & metabolic syndromeFeb 7, 2023

Effectiveness and Safety of Tirzepatide for Managing Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity

GLP-1 Therapies Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Apr 1, 2026

Abstract

Tirzepatide reduced glycosylated hemoglobin by 1.87% to 3.02% and body weight by 5.4 to 12.9 kg in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus over up to 104 weeks.

The dual / receptor co-agonist tirzepatide has been approved for treating type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Treatment with tirzepatide showed improvements in multiple cardiometabolic risk factors, including liver fat, blood pressure, and lipids.
Tirzepatide demonstrated greater efficacy compared to placebo and other glucose-lowering medications like semaglutide and insulin.
In non-diabetic individuals, tirzepatide led to significant body weight reductions of 16.5% to 22.4% over 72 weeks.
All doses of tirzepatide were well tolerated, exhibiting a side-effect profile similar to that of GLP-1 receptor analogues.

Simplified

The combination of glucagon-like peptide-1 () with other gut hormones including the glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide () has been explored to complement and enhance further the GLP-1 effects on glycemia and weight loss. Tirzepatide is the first dual GLP-1/GIP receptor co-agonist which has been approved for treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) based on the findings from the SURPASS program. The SURPASS trials assessed the safety and efficacy of tirzepatide in people with T2DM, from monotherapy through to insulin add-on in global populations, with another two trials dedicated to Japanese population. Over periods of treatment up to 104 weeks, once weekly tirzepatide 5 to 15 mg reduced glycosylated hemoglobin (1.87% to 3.02%), body weight (5.4 to 12.9 kg) and improved multiple cardiometabolic risk factors (including reduction in liver fat, new-onset macroalbuminuria, blood pressure, and lipids) across the T2DM spectrum. Tirzepatide provided better efficacy than placebo and other commonly used glucose-lowering medications such as semaglutide 1 mg, dulaglutide, insulin degludec, and glargine. All tirzepatide doses were well tolerated with similar side-effect profile to the GLP-1 receptor analogues. In people without diabetes, tirzepatide 5 to 15 mg once weekly for the treatment for obesity (SURMOUNT-1) resulted in substantial reductions in body weight (16.5% to 22.4%) over 72 weeks. Overall, the SURPASS program and SURMOUNT-1 study suggest that tirzepatide is marking a new era in T2DM and/or obesity management through dual agonism of gut hormones.

Key numbers

1.87% to 3.02%

Reduction

Reduction in with tirzepatide across various studies.

16.5% to 22.4%

Weight Loss

Weight loss achieved in SURMOUNT-1 study with tirzepatide.

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Effectiveness and Safety of Tirzepatide for Managing Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity

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