A Retrospective Comparative Analysis of Cutaneous Adverse Reactions in GLP-1 Agonist Therapies.
J Drugs Dermatol · 2025
Last updated 2026-05-28A study analyzed skin-related side effects reported for six GLP-1 drugs used to treat type 2 diabetes or obesity. The most common reactions were eczema-like rashes, itching, drug rashes, excessive sweating, and hair loss. Serious skin reactions made up 2.17% of all reported cases, with no major differences between the drugs. Hair loss and excessive sweating were more common when GLP-1 drugs were used for diabetes than for weight loss.
AI summary of the abstract below.
| Journal | J Drugs Dermatol, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Citations | 6 |
| Relative citation ratio | 1.94 |
| Molecules | — |
Abstract
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists are used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and have recently gained approval and popularity for treating obesity and weight loss. There is a lack of data evaluating the types of reactions associated with this medication class, and this study aimed to characterize the types of cutaneous reactions seen across different GLP-1 agonists, and whether differences exist in reactions based on the reason for medication use. Through a retrospective review of cutaneous adverse events associated with semaglutide, dulaglutide, tirzepatide, lixisenatide, liraglutide, and exenatide in the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System, it was found that the 5 most common cutaneous reactions associated with GLP-1 agonists were eczematous, pruritus, drug eruptions, hyperhidrosis, and alopecia. Life-threatening cutaneous adverse events accounted for 2.17% of all cutaneous reactions, with no statistically significant differences observed between drug types. It was also found that GLP-1 agonist use for T2DM exhibited significantly higher rates of alopecia (P=0.000) and hyperhidrosis (P=0.000) in comparison to use for weight management. J Drugs Dermatol. 2025;24(4):413-415. doi:10.36849/JDD.8605.
Verbatim abstract via PubMed 40196945 ↗