Study Looks at Associations Between Semaglutide and Ischemic Optic Neuropathy

THURSDAY, March 12, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Formulation- and sex-specific associations are seen for semaglutide use with ischemic optic neuropathy, with increased odds in men and with Wegovy use, according to a study published online March 10 in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.Noting that ION has recently been linked to glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist use, particularly semaglutide, Moiz Lakhani, from the University of Ottawa, and colleagues examined formulation- and sex-specific associations using more than 20 million reports from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (2017 to 2024).The researchers found that Wegovy demonstrated the strongest signal for ION compared with Ozempic among 31,774 semaglutide cases (reporting odds ratios, 74.89 and 18.81, respectively). Higher odds were seen in men in sex-stratified analyses (reporting odds ratio, 116.37). Greater risk was confirmed for Wegovy versus Ozempic and for men versus women in multivariable regression (reporting odds ratios, 4.74 and 3.33, respectively)."These findings extend our prior global analysis and, whereas previous studies identified only an agent-specific association, this study provides the first evidence of a formulation- and dose-dependent ION risk, with the strongest association observed for Wegovy," the authors write.Abstract/Full TextEditorial.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter