A new mouse study published this week in the Journal of Virology suggests that GLP-1 agonists — drugs commonly used for type 2 diabetes and weight loss — could help prevent pulmonary fibrosis in diabetic patients with Long COVID.
Key findings:
- The problem: People with type 2 diabetes have ∼4x higher risk of severe Long COVID symptoms than non-diabetics. Pulmonary fibrosis, a severe Long COVID condition where lung tissue becomes scarred and thickened, is driven by immune cells called macrophagesAmerican Society for Microbiology.
- The research: Led by virologist Runhong Zhou, Ph.D., at the University of Hong Kong, researchers compared blood samples from COVID-19 patients with and without diabetes months after hospitalization. Diabetic patients showed increased monocyte activity and genetic pathways linked to fibrosis.
- The mouse experiments: Mice with diabetes and SARS-CoV-2 infection developed overactive fibrosis-related genes. When treated with GLP-1 agonists, those genes normalized and macrophages were “reprogrammed,” leading to reduced lung scarring compared to untreated mice.
- Why GLP-1s?: The GLP-1 receptor is highly expressed in lung cells, and earlier lab work hinted at anti-inflammatory effects against pneumonia-related fibrosis. This is the first test in animal models after severe COVID-19 infection.
Caveats: Zhou notes the results are preliminary and only involved a small number of mice. But the team sees it as proof of concept worth further investigation, especially since Long COVID continues to affect many people, particularly the elderly.
The study was announced by the American Society for Microbiology on 9 July 2026.