Madhusmita (Madhu) Misra, MD, MPH
Madhusmita (Madhu) Misra, MD, MPH, the Benjamin Armistead Shepherd Chair and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Virginia and physician-in-chief of UVA Health Children’s, was awarded a $2.3 million NIH grant renewal for her project titled “Bone metabolism in adolescents undergoing GLP-1 receptor agonist therapy.”
GLP-1 receptor agonist therapy is increasingly being used to induce weight loss in youth with obesity, and one such medication—semaglutide—is now approved for weight loss in children 12 years and older. In general, weight loss is associated with deleterious effects on bone health. In the previous iteration of this grant, Dr. Misra and colleagues demonstrated significant reductions in bone density with impairment in bone geometry, structure and strength estimates following weight loss surgery (sleeve gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass) in adolescents and young adults, and identified key mechanisms contributing to these effects. However, GLP-1, a gut hormone, has bone anabolic and anti-resorptive effects, meaning that it increases bone formation and decreases bone loss. Dr. Misra and her colleagues propose that this effect of GLP-1 and its agonists may counteract the deleterious effects of weight loss on bone health in youth 12-21 years old receiving GLP-1 receptor agonist therapy for weight loss.
Collaborators on the project include Miriam Bredella, MD, MBA, at New York University (multiple PI), Deborah M. Mitchell, MD, and Hang Lee, PhD, at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Christine Burt Solorzano, MD, at the University of Virginia.
Filed Under: Research