Current treatments mainly focus on easing symptoms and lowering inflammation, depending on the specific type of arthritis. Now, researchers at Aarhus University’s Department of Biomedicine have identified a possible new direction for future therapies involving GLP-1, the hormone targeted by popular weight loss medications such as Wegovy.

The findings were published in Lancet Rheumatology.

“Our study shows that the body’s own GLP-1 hormone is present only in very small amounts in the joints. This means that its natural effect in the joint is likely to be limited. However, it also suggests that GLP-1-based medication, which is administered in much higher doses, may be able to influence inflammation directly in the joints,” said Associate Professor Tue Wenzel Kragstrup, who led the research.

Because GLP-1 medications deliver much higher levels of the hormone than the body naturally produces in the joints, researchers believe these drugs could potentially affect inflammation in those tissues.

Possible Double Benefit From GLP-1 Drugs

Weight management is already recommended for many arthritis patients, especially those with osteoarthritis. According to the researchers, GLP-1 medications could eventually provide benefits beyond weight reduction alone.

“Weight loss is already part of the recommendations for many patients with arthritis, but our study may indicate that medication such as Wegovy could have a dual effect — both through weight loss and by increasing GLP-1 levels in the joints,” Kragstrup said.

The study analyzed blood samples and joint fluid taken from arthritis patients. The data work was led by medical doctor and PhD student Mads Brüner together with PhD student Amalie Broksø.

Researchers found that GLP-1 levels inside the joints closely matched levels circulating in the bloodstream.

“We can see that the levels of GLP-1 in joint fluid are closely linked to the levels in the blood. This suggests that it is primarily the amount of GLP-1 circulating in the body that determines how much reaches the joint,” Brüner explained.

First Detection of GLP-1 in Arthritic Joint Fluid

Earlier studies had suggested GLP-1 might have anti-inflammatory properties, but this marks the first time scientists have detected the hormone directly in the joint fluid of arthritis patients.

“Our findings provide a biological basis for investigating whether GLP-1-based medication may have direct effects in the joints — beyond the known effects on weight and metabolism. However, we have not demonstrated that the treatment works against arthritis. This will require a number of clinical studies,” Kragstrup said.

The researchers caution that patients should not expect GLP-1 drugs to become arthritis treatments anytime soon. Much more research is needed before doctors can determine whether these medications can actually reduce inflammation or relieve symptoms inside the joints.

“The next step is to investigate whether the medication reaches the joints in sufficient quantities and actually reduces inflammation in the joints.”

About the Study

The research was a translational clinical biomarker study that examined paired blood and joint fluid samples from patients with inflammatory arthritis, including rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis. The goal was to determine whether GLP-1 could be measured in joint fluid and how those levels compared with concentrations found in the blood.

The project involved researchers from Aarhus University’s Department of Biomedicine, the Department of Molecular Medicine (MOMA) at Aarhus University Hospital, the Clinic for Rheumatic and Connective Tissue Diseases at the Medical Diagnostic Centre at Hospitalsenhed Midt, the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, and the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen.

Funding came from Director Michael Hermann Nielsen’s Memorial Grant and the Risford Foundation. The authors reported no conflicts of interest related to the study.

The review was written by David Gems and Alexander Carver from University College London, along with Yuan Zhao from Queen Mary University of London. Their work combines ideas from evolutionary biology with findings from modern biomedical research to explain how early damage in the body may later contribute to diseases such as cancer, arthritis, and infections.

How Early-Life Damage May Shape Health Decades Later

According to the researchers, the first stage begins earlier in life when the body experiences various forms of disruption. These can include infections, physical injuries, or genetic mutations. While the body is often able to repair or contain much of this damage, some of it may remain hidden rather than being fully removed.

The second stage occurs later in life as normal genetic activity starts changing in ways that are no longer beneficial to the body. These late-life biological changes can weaken the body’s ability to keep earlier damage under control. As a result, previously contained problems may gradually develop into disease.

The scientists argue that this process helps explain why many illnesses appear mainly in older adults even though their origins may trace back much earlier.

Why Diseases Like Shingles and Arthritis Appear With Age

The review highlights aging as a multifactorial process, meaning it is driven by many interacting biological factors instead of a single cause. The proposed model suggests that the combination of earlier damage and later-life genetic changes plays a major role in age-related disease.

For example, dormant viruses that remain inactive for years can become active again when the immune system weakens with age, leading to conditions such as shingles. In a similar way, injuries sustained in youth may eventually contribute to osteoarthritis as aging tissues become less resilient over time.

Inherited genetic mutations may also stay silent for decades before increasing the risk of diseases such as cancer or fibrosis later in life.

Evolutionary Biology and Aging Research

The researchers say their model builds on long-standing evolutionary theories of aging. One influential idea is that natural selection becomes weaker later in life, allowing harmful biological processes to emerge with age because they have less impact on reproduction and survival earlier in life.

The review also references studies involving the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans. In these experiments, early mechanical damage in the worms eventually led to fatal infections in old age. The scientists suggest similar patterns may also occur in humans.

A New Framework for Healthier Aging

Overall, the review presents aging as a process shaped by multiple interacting causes that unfold over time. By separating aging into two major stages, early-life damage and later-life genetic activity, the researchers believe their framework could help guide future strategies aimed at disease prevention and healthier aging.

The findings also raise the possibility that reducing damage earlier in life or targeting harmful late-life biological changes could help lower the risk of chronic disease in older adults.

We both work in languages education and recognize the real benefits that learning another language can bring. As well as myriad cognitive benefits, it brings with it cultural insights and empathetic awareness.

With that in mind, we’re here to dispel five myths about language learning that might be putting you off.

Myth one: it’s all about grammar and vocabulary

In fact, learning about people, history and culture is arguably the best part of learning a language. While grammar and vocabulary are undeniably important aspects of language learning, they don’t exist in isolation from how people communicate in everyday life.

Language learning can help us to have “intercultural agility”: the ability to engage empathically with people who have very different experiences from our own. To be able to do this means learning about people, history and culture.

Immersing yourself in a particular country or location, for example through studying or working, is a fantastic way to do this. But when this isn’t feasible, there are so many other options available. We can learn so much through music, books, films, musical theater and gaming.

Myth two: we should focus on avoiding mistakes – they’re embarrassing

One problem with formal language learning is that it encourages us to focus on accuracy at all costs. To pass exams, you need to get things “right”. And many of us feel nervous about getting things wrong.

But in real-life communication, even in our expert languages, we often make mistakes and get away with it. Think of the number of times you have misspelled something, or said the wrong word, and still been understood.

Less formal language learning can encourage us to think more about communication than accuracy.

One advocate of this approach is author Benny Lewis, who popularized a communicative learning approach he calls “language hacking” which focuses on the language skills needed for conversation. Language apps also encourage this, as does real-life travel and communication.

Myth three: it’s too much effort to start over with a new language

You can use languages in lots of ways, and the language you learn at school doesn’t have to be the only one you learn.

In England, most people learn one or more of French, Spanish or German at school. These languages can often serve as great apprenticeship languages, teaching us how to learn a language and about grammatical structures.

But they are not always the languages that we are most likely to use as adults, when family and work could take us anywhere. Our cultural interests might also lead us to want to know more about a new language.

Learning a language that you have a personal interest in can be very motivating and help you to keep going when things get a bit rocky.

Myth four: learning a language is an individual endeavor

You don’t have to learn alone. Learning with others, or having the support of others, can help motivate us to learn.

This might be through a multilingual marriage, joining a conversation group or chatting in a language learning forum online. Don’t feel that you have to have reached a certain proficiency before you start reaching out to others.

Language apps can also make language learning a collective endeavor. You can learn along with friends and family, and congratulate them on their language learning streaks.

This is something both of us do with multiple generations of our families, helping us engage with language learning in a lighthearted way.

Myth five: it’s a lot of hard graft

Learning a language in a systematic way can be challenging, whether in a classroom or from a self-study course. But some things make this easier. We have found that people are more motivated to engage when they have a personal reason to learn. This could be, for example, wanting to communicate with family or to travel to a particular country or region.

The growth in popularity and accessibility of language learning apps has made language learning possible from any location and at any time, often for free.

You can easily catch up on your Chinese from the comfort of your own armchair, at whatever time is most convenient for you. Apps can be fun and playful, and can help us maintain motivation, develop vocabulary and embed grammatical structures.

There are lots of reasons for learning a language, and lots of benefits. We encourage everyone to focus on these benefits, and give it a go.