Muscle loss accounted for 30 percent of weight lost on placebo, 14.6 percent with the new drug.
À medida que milhões de pessoas recorrem a medicamentos injetáveis para perda de peso, a ciência começa a confrontar uma consequência silenciosa: junto com a gordura, o corpo também consome músculo. Uma nova substância chamada apitegromabe surge como possível resposta a esse dilema, prometendo preservar a massa magra sem comprometer a perda de gordura. O avanço é promissor, mas ainda provisório — um lembrete de que transformar o corpo humano exige mais do que suprimir o apetite.
- Até um terço do peso perdido com medicamentos GLP-1 como Ozempic vem da massa muscular, não da gordura, gerando efeitos estéticos como o chamado 'bumbum Ozempic'.
- O fenômeno já movimenta consultórios de cirurgiões plásticos nos Estados Unidos e alimenta uma crescente ansiedade entre usuários desses medicamentos.
- Em um ensaio clínico de seis meses com 102 adultos, o apitegromabe preservou 1,9 kg a mais de massa muscular em comparação ao placebo, sem reduzir a perda de gordura.
- O medicamento ainda exige infusão intravenosa e permanece em fase experimental, enquanto pesquisadores investigam uma versão em caneta autoinjetável.
- Especialistas pedem cautela: os resultados são encorajadores, mas estudos mais longos são necessários para confirmar benefícios reais além dos estéticos.
Quando alguém começa a usar Ozempic ou Wegovy, espera perder gordura. O que muitos descobrem é que o corpo também consome músculo — cerca de um terço do peso perdido com esses medicamentos GLP-1 vem da massa magra, o tecido que dá forma e força ao corpo. O efeito visual ganhou um apelido direto na cultura popular: o achatamento e a flacidez dos glúteos, conhecido como 'bumbum Ozempic'.
Um novo composto chamado apitegromabe pode oferecer uma saída para esse problema. Publicado na revista Nature Medicine, um estudo testou o medicamento em combinação com o Mounjaro durante seis meses, com 102 participantes adultos. Os resultados foram claros: quem recebeu apitegromabe preservou cerca de 1,9 kg a mais de massa muscular. No grupo placebo, a perda muscular representou 30,2% do peso total eliminado; no grupo tratado, esse número caiu para 14,6%.
O mecanismo é relativamente simples: o apitegromabe bloqueia uma proteína envolvida na degradação muscular, o mesmo processo estudado em doenças como a atrofia muscular espinhal. Por ora, o medicamento só existe em protocolos de ensaios clínicos e precisa ser administrado por via intravenosa. A empresa desenvolvedora investiga uma versão em caneta autoinjetável, mais prática para uso cotidiano.
Especialistas pedem prudência. A pesquisadora Marie Spreckley classificou os resultados como 'evidências iniciais encorajadoras', não como prova definitiva de benefício clínico. Brendan Gabriel, da Universidade de Aberdeen, sugeriu que o tratamento pode ser útil para quem perde músculo de forma acelerada, mas não necessariamente para todos os usuários de GLP-1.
O contexto mais amplo é importante: esses medicamentos não foram criados como ferramentas estéticas. Eles reduzem o apetite e prolongam a saciedade, e é a própria restrição calórica intensa — não os fármacos diretamente — que parece provocar a perda muscular. Enquanto o apitegromabe não chega ao mercado, médicos recomendam ingestão adequada de proteínas e exercícios de força. O avanço, ainda que preliminar, reconhece algo essencial: o que o corpo perde importa tanto quanto quanto ele perde.
When people inject themselves with weight-loss medications like Ozempic or Wegovy, they expect to shed fat. What many discover instead is that their bodies are also consuming muscle — sometimes a lot of it. Researchers estimate that roughly a third of the weight lost on these GLP-1 drugs comes not from adipose tissue but from lean mass, the structural protein that gives the body its shape and strength. The visual consequence has earned a blunt nickname in popular culture: the flattening and sagging of the buttocks, a phenomenon users call "Ozempic butt."
Now a new compound called apitegromab may offer a way to prevent that unwanted trade-off. In a study published in Nature Medicine, researchers tested the drug alongside Mounjaro, one of the most widely prescribed GLP-1 medications, in a trial that lasted six months and enrolled 102 adults, predominantly women. Those who received apitegromab alongside their obesity treatment preserved significantly more muscle mass while losing fat at the same rate as those on placebo. The difference was measurable: participants on apitegromab retained approximately 1.9 kilograms more lean mass. In the placebo group, muscle loss accounted for 30.2 percent of total weight shed. In the apitegromab group, that figure dropped to 14.6 percent.
The mechanism is straightforward in concept. Apitegromab works by blocking a protein involved in muscle breakdown — the same biological process that causes atrophy in other conditions, which is why the compound is also being studied for spinal muscular atrophy and other degenerative muscle diseases. The drug currently exists only within clinical trial protocols and must be administered intravenously. The company developing it, which also funded the study, is investigating whether apitegromab could eventually be delivered via a self-injecting pen, matching the convenience of the GLP-1 medications themselves.
Yet experts urge caution. Marie Spreckley, a researcher not involved in the trial, characterized the results as "initial encouraging evidence" rather than definitive proof of clinical benefit. She and others call for longer studies to determine whether preserving muscle mass actually translates to meaningful improvements in strength, quality of life, and long-term health outcomes. Brendan Gabriel, a specialist in health and nutrition at the University of Aberdeen, suggested the treatment may not suit all GLP-1 users but could help those experiencing accelerated muscle loss.
The broader context matters here. GLP-1 medications were never designed as cosmetic tools or quick fixes for summer bodies. They reduce appetite and extend satiety, causing people to eat less and lose weight. The rapid weight loss itself — not the drugs directly — appears to drive the muscle loss. Plastic surgeons in the United States have reported a notable uptick in consultations about this effect. Meanwhile, people already using these medications are advised to maintain adequate protein intake and perform strength training, strategies that can help preserve lean mass but cannot fully prevent the loss that occurs during aggressive caloric restriction.
Apitegromab remains investigational. Before it can be recommended for routine use, researchers need to confirm its safety profile and establish whether the preservation of muscle mass delivers real health dividends beyond aesthetic ones. The drug represents a recognition, though, that weight loss is not a simple equation of pounds shed. The composition of those pounds matters — where they come from, what they leave behind, and what the body looks like when the process is complete.
Notable Quotes
The results are promising but should be viewed as initial encouraging evidence, not definitive proof of clinical benefit.— Marie Spreckley, independent researcher
The treatment may not be appropriate for all GLP-1 users but could benefit those experiencing accelerated muscle loss.— Brendan Gabriel, University of Aberdeen
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does muscle disappear so much faster than fat when people use these weight-loss drugs?
It's not the drugs themselves doing it — it's the speed of weight loss. When you eat far less, your body needs fuel. It will burn fat, yes, but it also breaks down muscle for energy. Muscle is metabolically expensive to maintain, so the body sheds it readily under caloric stress. Fat is the body's preferred long-term storage.
And this apitegromab blocks that breakdown process?
Exactly. It targets a specific protein involved in muscle degradation. By inhibiting that pathway, it tells the body to spare the lean tissue even as it's losing weight rapidly.
The study showed muscle loss dropped from 30 percent to 14 percent of total weight loss. That's significant, but it's not zero.
Right. You can't eliminate muscle loss entirely during aggressive weight loss without also slowing fat loss, which defeats the purpose for most people. The drug reduces the damage, not erases it.
Why are experts still skeptical if the numbers look good?
Because a six-month trial is short. They want to know: Does preserving muscle actually make people stronger? Does it improve their health long-term? Does it prevent the rebound weight gain that often follows? Right now, they have evidence of a biological effect, not proof of a clinical one.
Who would actually benefit most from this drug?
People using GLP-1 medications who are losing muscle faster than average — perhaps older adults, or those with less muscle to begin with. Not everyone needs it. But for someone watching their body hollow out as they lose weight, it could matter.
Is this just a cosmetic fix?
Partly, yes. The "Ozempic butt" phenomenon is real and bothers people. But muscle loss also affects strength, mobility, and metabolic health. Preserving it has real consequences beyond how you look in a mirror.