(NEWSnet/AP) — Tirzepatide, contained in the weight-loss drug Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro, appear to reduce severity of sleep apnea, a study suggests.

Eli Lilly and Co., the drug's maker that funded the research, has asked U.S. Food and Drug Administration to expand use of the medicine to treat apnea.

The research, published June 21 in New England Journal of Medicine and presented at a medical meeting, involved nearly 500 people diagnosed with obesity and sleep apnea. Half used a CPAP machine. The other group included people for whom a CPAP machine had failed, or was not tolerable.

The study found patients in both groups who got a weekly injection of tirzepatide reduced the number of episodes per hour in which breathing slowed or stopped completely during sleep by 50%-60%, compared to about 10% in people who received a placebo. Up to 50% of the patients taking tirzepatide reduced apnea episodes enough to resolve the disorder, compared with 16% of those using the placebo.

Patients also reported better sleep and fewer sleep disturbances, the study found.

Dr. Paul Peppard, a sleep medicine researcher at University of Wisconsin who was not involved in the study, said losing weight has been recommended as a way to reduce the severity of sleep apnea by expanding lung capacity, reducing fat in  airways and improving oxygen use.

In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Sanjay Patel, a sleep medicine specialist at University of Pittsburgh, said it’s “unclear” tirzepatide can treat sleep apnea in real-world patients, because of the way improvement is measured.

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