Retatrutide glossary: the jargon explained
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Trial papers, press releases and health alerts about retatrutide are full of words that nobody uses in ordinary life. This glossary explains each one in plain English, in a sentence or two, with the retatrutide-specific numbers where they help.
How this glossary works
Every entry below has a short definition and, where useful, links to related terms. Use the letter bar to jump through the list, or your browser's find function to search the page.
You do not need to come here first. Across the site, technical terms are underlined with a dotted line; hover over one, or tab to it on a keyboard, and the short definition appears as a tooltip. Clicking the term brings you to its full entry here. Pages such as what retatrutide is, how to read a trial and the side effects hub use these tooltips heavily, so you can read without stopping to look things up.
If a term you met elsewhere is missing, or a definition is unclear, tell us and we will add or fix it. The FAQ covers the common questions the definitions alone cannot answer.
- Adaptive thermogenesis
- The fall in energy expenditure after weight loss that is larger than the smaller body size alone would predict. It is one of the body's defences against weight loss and one reason weight regain is so common after any diet or after stopping a weight-loss medicine. Glucagon receptor activation raises energy expenditure, and whether that meaningfully offsets adaptive thermogenesis with retatrutide is not yet known.
- See also: Energy expenditure, Glucagon
- Adjusted body weight
- A weight figure that sits between a person's ideal weight and their actual weight, used by dietitians when setting protein and other nutrition targets for people with obesity. Fat tissue needs far less protein than muscle, so working from actual weight would give an unrealistically high target. The 2025 joint nutrition advisory for people on GLP-1 therapy recommends using adjusted body weight for protein targets. A dietitian or GP can calculate it for you.
- See also: Protein (dietary), BMI (body mass index), Lean mass
- Adverse event (AE)
- Any unwanted medical event that happens to a trial participant, whether or not it was caused by the drug. Trials report adverse events in every group, including placebo, which is why placebo groups have non-zero rates of nausea. A 'serious' adverse event is one that is life-threatening, needs hospital admission, or causes lasting harm.
- See also: Placebo, Discontinuation
- Agonist
- A molecule that binds to a receptor and switches it on, mimicking the body's own hormone or signal. Retatrutide is an agonist at three receptors (GLP-1, GIP and glucagon). The opposite, an antagonist, blocks a receptor.
- See also: Receptor, Triple agonist
- ALT (alanine aminotransferase)
- An enzyme found mainly in liver cells. When liver cells are damaged, ALT leaks into the blood, so a raised ALT on a blood test can signal liver injury. In the Phase 2 retatrutide trial about 1% of participants had a transient rise to more than three times the normal limit. Marked rises with jaundice are a medical emergency.
- See also: Hepatotoxicity, Jaundice
- Amylase and lipase
- Enzymes made by the pancreas to digest food. Blood levels rise when the pancreas is inflamed. GLP-1-class drugs commonly cause small rises without symptoms; a large rise with severe abdominal pain suggests pancreatitis.
- See also: Pancreatitis
- Apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI)
- The number of times per hour of sleep that breathing stops (apnoea) or becomes very shallow (hypopnoea). An AHI of 5 or more is mild sleep apnoea, 15 or more moderate, and 30 or more severe. In the sleep apnoea sub-study of TRIUMPH-1, people started at an average AHI of 58.6 and fell by 36.1 events per hour, a 60.6% reduction.
- See also: Basket trial, Weight-related comorbidity
- Arrhythmia
- Any abnormal heart rhythm. It ranges from harmless extra beats to dangerous rhythms. The Phase 2 retatrutide trial reported arrhythmias in 2% to 11% of participants on the drug versus 2% on placebo, mostly mild, with one severe prolonged-QT event.
- See also: QT interval, Heart rate
- Basket trial
- A trial design in which smaller groups with specific conditions (for example sleep apnoea or knee osteoarthritis) are enrolled inside a larger trial, each with their own outcome measure. TRIUMPH-1 used this design, with sub-studies in obstructive sleep apnoea and knee osteoarthritis nested inside the main obesity trial.
- See also: Randomised controlled trial (RCT), Apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI), WOMAC
- BMI (body mass index)
- A rough measure of body size: weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. A BMI of 30 or more is classed as obesity; 35 and 40 mark higher classes. It is a screening tool, not a measure of health, and it does not distinguish fat from muscle.
- See also: Obesity
- Certificate of analysis (COA)
- A document reporting test results for a specific batch or sample, usually purity by HPLC and identity by mass spectrometry. A COA does not prove sterility or endotoxin levels, cannot be checked against the vial in your hand, and is easily copied or forged. Legitimate medicines are released against full pharmacopoeial testing under GMP, not a single COA.
- See also: HPLC, Endotoxin, GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice), Sterility
- Cholecystitis
- Inflammation of the gallbladder, most often because a gallstone has blocked it. Symptoms are severe pain under the right ribs, often after eating, with fever and sometimes vomiting or jaundice. Rapid weight loss of any kind raises the risk of gallstones, and gallbladder disease is a listed warning for licensed GLP-1-class medicines. It needs same-day medical assessment.
- See also: Pancreatitis, Jaundice
- Contaminant
- Any unwanted substance in a product: bacteria, bacterial endotoxin, wrong or incomplete peptide sequences, residual solvents, heavy metals, or fill materials. Australian health authorities suspect a contaminant, rather than retatrutide itself, in the 2026 liver-injury cluster.
- See also: Endotoxin, Hepatotoxicity
- Controlled drug
- A substance scheduled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, such as heroin, cocaine or diazepam, where possession can itself be an offence. Retatrutide is not a controlled drug. It is regulated instead as a medicine under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012, which restrict its sale and supply, not possession.
- See also: Human Medicines Regulations 2012, Unlicensed medicine
- Counterfeit
- A product fraudulently presented as a genuine branded medicine. In the UK, fake weight-loss pens have been found to contain insulin instead of the labelled drug, causing dangerous low blood sugar. The MHRA has seized thousands of unlicensed and counterfeit retatrutide and tirzepatide pens.
- See also: Unlicensed medicine, MHRA, Hypoglycaemia
- Discontinuation
- When a participant stops taking the trial drug before the trial ends. The most telling figure is discontinuation 'due to adverse events', which shows how many people found the side effects intolerable. In TRIUMPH-1 it was 4.1%, 6.9% and 11.3% at 4, 9 and 12 mg versus 4.9% on placebo.
- See also: Adverse event (AE)
- Double-blind
- A trial design where neither participants nor the staff assessing them know who is receiving the drug and who is receiving placebo. It reduces bias in both reporting and measurement.
- See also: Placebo, Randomised controlled trial (RCT)
- Dysesthesia
- An altered and often unpleasant sense of touch: tingling, burning, pins and needles, or heightened sensitivity to pressure, heat or cold. It emerged as a new side effect in retatrutide's Phase 3 trials, affecting up to 12.5% in TRIUMPH-1 and 20.9% at the top dose in TRIUMPH-4, mostly mild. It has not been reported with semaglutide or tirzepatide.
- See also: Adverse event (AE)
- Efficacy estimand
- A trial result calculated as if everyone had stayed on the drug as intended, excluding the effect of people stopping. It shows what the drug can do under ideal adherence. In TRIUMPH-1 the 12 mg efficacy-estimand result was 28.3%, against 25.0% on the treatment-regimen estimand.
- See also: Estimand, Treatment-regimen estimand
- EMA
- The European Medicines Agency, which evaluates medicines for the European Union. Retatrutide has no EMA authorisation. Since Brexit the UK's MHRA runs its own separate process.
- See also: MHRA, FDA
- Endotoxin
- Lipopolysaccharide fragments from the outer wall of certain bacteria. Endotoxin survives filtration and many sterilisation methods, and when injected causes fever, inflammation and, at higher levels, septic-shock-like reactions. Licensed injectables must pass an endotoxin limit test; independent testing of online semaglutide vials found endotoxin in every sample.
- See also: Sterility, Certificate of analysis (COA), Sepsis
- Energy expenditure
- The total energy your body uses for basic functions, digestion and movement. Activating the glucagon receptor appears to increase energy expenditure, which is one reason a triple agonist may produce more weight loss than drugs acting on appetite alone.
- See also: Glucagon, Adaptive thermogenesis
- Estimand
- The precise question a trial result answers. The 'treatment-regimen estimand' counts every randomised participant regardless of whether they stayed on the drug; the 'efficacy estimand' counts people while they were taking the drug as intended. The efficacy figure is always larger. Lilly reports both; headlines usually quote the larger one.
- See also: Treatment-regimen estimand, Efficacy estimand, Placebo-adjusted
- FDA
- The United States Food and Drug Administration. Lilly has said it plans to submit a retatrutide marketing application to the FDA in the first quarter of 2027. FDA approval does not give a product any legal status in the UK.
- See also: MHRA, EMA
- Food noise
- A non-medical term for persistent, intrusive thoughts about food and eating. Many people on GLP-1-class medicines describe it going quiet; it is one of the most consistent themes in community reports, though it is not a formal trial outcome.
- See also: GLP-1
- Gastric emptying
- The speed at which food moves from the stomach into the small intestine. GLP-1 receptor agonists slow it, which increases fullness but also drives nausea, bloating and reflux, especially after large or fatty meals.
- See also: GLP-1, Nausea
- GIP
- Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, a hormone released by the upper small intestine after eating. It boosts insulin release when blood sugar is high and appears to add to appetite reduction, and may lessen GLP-1-related nausea. Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) and retatrutide both act on it.
- See also: GLP-1, Incretin
- GLP-1
- Glucagon-like peptide-1, a hormone released by the gut after meals. It signals fullness to the brain, slows stomach emptying and increases insulin release when glucose is high. Semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic), tirzepatide and retatrutide all activate its receptor.
- See also: GIP, Incretin, Gastric emptying
- Glucagon
- A hormone from the pancreas that normally raises blood sugar by releasing glucose from the liver. Activating its receptor also increases energy expenditure and reduces liver fat. It is the third target of retatrutide and the main thing that sets it apart from earlier drugs. It may also contribute to the rise in heart rate seen in retatrutide trials, though that is not proven.
- See also: Energy expenditure, Heart rate
- GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice)
- The regulated system of controls under which licensed medicines are made: validated clean rooms, sterile filling, endotoxin and sterility testing of every batch, documented traceability and regulator inspections. Products from unlicensed producers are not made under GMP, which is the core reason they cannot be assumed safe to inject whatever a certificate says.
- See also: Certificate of analysis (COA), Sterility, Unlicensed medicine
- Half-life
- The time it takes for the amount of a drug in the bloodstream to fall by half. Natural GLP-1 lasts minutes; retatrutide, semaglutide and tirzepatide are engineered to last around a week, which is why trials give them as a single weekly injection and why levels take several weeks to settle after any change. This is a description of how the drug behaves, not guidance on using it.
- See also: GLP-1, Titration, Peptide
- HbA1c
- Glycated haemoglobin: the share of red-blood-cell haemoglobin that has sugar attached, which reflects average blood sugar over roughly the previous three months. It is the standard measure of diabetes control, reported as a percentage or in mmol/mol (6.5%, or 48 mmol/mol, is the usual threshold for diagnosing diabetes). In TRIUMPH-2, HbA1c fell from 7.7% by 1.4 to 1.6 points on retatrutide versus 0.2 points on placebo.
- See also: Hypoglycaemia, Weight-related comorbidity
- Heart rate
- Resting heart rate rises modestly on GLP-1-class medicines. With retatrutide the rise was dose-dependent in Phase 2, peaking around week 24 and then declining. Trials excluded people with significant heart rhythm disease, so the effect in them is unknown.
- See also: Arrhythmia, Glucagon
- Hepatotoxicity
- Damage to the liver caused by a medicine, supplement or contaminant. Warning signs are tiredness, abdominal pain, itching, dark urine, pale stools, yellow eyes or skin and easy bruising. Severe drug-induced liver injury can need a transplant. Trials of retatrutide found only rare, transient enzyme rises; the 2026 Australian liver-injury cluster involved unlicensed products.
- See also: ALT (alanine aminotransferase), Jaundice, Contaminant
- HPLC
- High-performance liquid chromatography, a lab method that separates a sample into its components and estimates what proportion is the intended compound. It is the 'purity %' on a certificate of analysis. It does not test sterility, endotoxin, correct folding, or whether the labelled amount is actually in the vial.
- See also: Certificate of analysis (COA), Endotoxin
- Human Medicines Regulations 2012
- The main UK law governing medicines. Under it, a medicinal product needs a marketing authorisation before it can be sold or supplied, and advertising unlicensed medicines to the public is prohibited. Retatrutide has no authorisation, so selling it for people to use is an offence. The regulations target supply, not possession.
- See also: Controlled drug, Unlicensed medicine, MHRA
- Hypoglycaemia
- Blood sugar falling too low. Early signs are shaking, sweating, hunger and a fast heartbeat; then confusion, slurred speech, seizures and unconsciousness. GLP-1-class drugs on their own rarely cause it, but the risk rises when they are combined with insulin or some diabetes tablets. Counterfeit weight-loss pens in the UK that turned out to contain insulin have put people in hospital with hypoglycaemic coma. An unconscious person needs a 999 call.
- See also: Counterfeit, HbA1c, GLP-1
- Incretin
- A group of gut hormones, chiefly GLP-1 and GIP, released after eating that increase insulin secretion. 'Incretin-based therapy' is the umbrella term for semaglutide, tirzepatide and similar drugs.
- See also: GLP-1, GIP
- Investigational medicine
- A medicine that is still being studied in clinical trials and has not received a marketing authorisation. Investigational medicines can only lawfully be given inside an approved trial. Retatrutide is investigational everywhere.
- See also: Unlicensed medicine, Marketing authorisation
- Jaundice
- Yellowing of the whites of the eyes or the skin caused by a build-up of bilirubin, usually a sign that the liver is not working properly. With dark urine, pale stools or itching it needs same-day medical assessment.
- See also: Hepatotoxicity, ALT (alanine aminotransferase)
- Lean mass
- All body tissue other than fat: muscle, bone, organs and water. In GLP-1-class trials roughly a quarter to two-fifths of the weight lost was lean mass. Adequate protein and resistance training reduce the loss. Older adults and people with serious illness are most at risk of losing muscle they cannot spare.
- See also: Resistance training, Protein (dietary), Sarcopenia
- MACE
- Major adverse cardiovascular events, a combined outcome used in large trials that usually counts cardiovascular death, non-fatal heart attack and non-fatal stroke. Whether a drug reduces MACE cannot be judged from weight-loss trials; TRIUMPH-3 enrolled people with cardiovascular disease but was not designed to measure it. TRIUMPH-Outcomes, a 10,000-person trial due to finish around 2029, is the retatrutide study that will.
- See also: Heart rate, Randomised controlled trial (RCT)
- MASH
- Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, the stage of fatty liver disease where fat build-up is joined by inflammation and damage to liver cells. Untreated, it can progress to scarring (fibrosis) and cirrhosis. It was previously called NASH. Retatrutide reduced liver fat in a Phase 2a MASLD substudy, and a larger liver-disease programme (SYNERGY-Outcomes) is recruiting; whether it improves MASH itself is not yet known.
- See also: MASLD, Glucagon, Hepatotoxicity
- MASLD
- Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, the current name for fatty liver disease linked to obesity and metabolic problems (previously NAFLD). Its more serious form with inflammation is MASH. A Phase 2a substudy found retatrutide reduced liver fat by up to 82% at 24 weeks.
- See also: MASH, Glucagon
- MHRA
- The UK's medicines regulator. It licenses medicines, runs the Yellow Card side-effect scheme and has a Criminal Enforcement Unit that investigates illegal medicine supply. The MHRA has said any product sold in the UK claiming to contain retatrutide is likely illegal and potentially dangerous.
- See also: Yellow Card, Marketing authorisation
- Nausea
- Feeling sick. The most common side effect of retatrutide in every trial (28.6% to 42.4% in TRIUMPH-1 depending on dose), usually mild to moderate and concentrated in the weeks after each dose step. Persistent vomiting with inability to keep fluids down needs medical attention.
- See also: Gastric emptying, Adverse event (AE)
- NCT number
- The unique identifier assigned to a trial when it is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov. It lets anyone check a trial's design, size, status and dates directly. Every trial on this site is listed with its NCT number.
- See also: Randomised controlled trial (RCT)
- Obesity
- A chronic, relapsing condition defined by excess body fat that affects health, usually screened for by a BMI of 30 or more (or lower thresholds in some ethnic groups). NHS weight-management services and licensed medicines are provided through tiered pathways set out in NICE guidance.
- See also: BMI (body mass index)
- Off-label
- Using a licensed medicine outside the terms of its licence, which doctors may do on their own responsibility. It does not apply to retatrutide: a drug with no marketing authorisation cannot be prescribed off-label, only used inside a trial.
- See also: Unlicensed medicine, Marketing authorisation
- Orforglipron
- A GLP-1 receptor agonist taken as a once-daily tablet rather than an injection, developed by Eli Lilly and sold as Foundayo. The FDA approved it on 1 April 2026 and the MHRA authorised it on 10 August 2026, the first regulator in Europe to do so. A NICE appraisal is due in November 2026, so it is not yet available on the NHS. It is a licensed medicine; retatrutide is not.
- See also: GLP-1, Marketing authorisation, Semaglutide
- Pancreatitis
- Inflammation of the pancreas, causing severe upper abdominal pain that often spreads to the back, with nausea and vomiting. It is a recognised rare risk of the whole GLP-1 class; one serious case occurred in the Phase 2 retatrutide trial. It needs same-day hospital assessment.
- See also: Amylase and lipase, Cholecystitis
- Peptide
- A short chain of amino acids. Retatrutide, semaglutide and tirzepatide are all peptide drugs. Online, 'peptides' has become shorthand for unlicensed injectable products sold with 'research use only' labels. The label describes the seller's legal strategy, not the product's safety.
- See also: Unlicensed medicine
- Placebo
- An inactive treatment (here, an injection with no drug) given to a comparison group. Placebo groups in retatrutide trials still lost about 2% to 5% of body weight and reported nausea, showing how much comes from diet advice, monitoring and expectation.
- See also: Double-blind, Randomised controlled trial (RCT), Placebo-adjusted
- Placebo-adjusted
- A trial result expressed as the difference between the drug group and the placebo group, rather than the drug group's raw change. It isolates what the drug itself added. In the Phase 2 trial, the top dose produced 24.2% weight loss against 2.1% on placebo, so the placebo-adjusted result was about 22 percentage points at 48 weeks. Headlines almost always quote the raw figure.
- See also: Placebo, Estimand
- Progressive overload
- The principle that muscles only keep getting stronger if the demand on them gradually increases: more weight, more repetitions, more sets, or harder variations over time. It is the core of any resistance-training programme that aims to preserve muscle during weight loss.
- See also: Resistance training, Lean mass
- Protein (dietary)
- The nutrient needed to build and maintain muscle. A 2025 joint advisory from four US medical societies recommends 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight per day during active weight loss on GLP-1-class medicines, spread across meals, with some guidance going up to 2 g/kg. Adjusted body weight is used in obesity.
- See also: Lean mass, Resistance training, Adjusted body weight
- QT interval
- The time on an electrocardiogram for the heart's ventricles to contract and recover. A prolonged QT interval raises the risk of dangerous rhythms. Some anti-sickness medicines, including ondansetron, prolong QT; the one severe rhythm event in retatrutide's Phase 2 trial was in a participant also taking ondansetron.
- See also: Arrhythmia
- Randomised controlled trial (RCT)
- A study in which participants are assigned by chance to receive the drug or a comparison (placebo or another drug). Randomisation makes the groups alike in everything except the treatment, so differences in outcome can be attributed to it. All the TRIUMPH and TRANSCEND trials are RCTs.
- See also: Placebo, Double-blind, NCT number
- Receptor
- A protein on or inside a cell that a specific hormone or drug binds to, triggering a response. Retatrutide binds the GLP-1, GIP and glucagon receptors.
- See also: Agonist
- Research use only (RUO)
- A label used by sellers to present an injectable as a laboratory reagent rather than a medicine. UK law looks at what a product is and how it is presented and sold; if it is sold to people to inject for weight loss, it is a medicine, and supplying it without a licence is an offence regardless of the label.
- See also: Human Medicines Regulations 2012, Unlicensed medicine
- Resistance training
- Exercise that works muscles against a load: weights, resistance bands, machines or bodyweight. Two to three sessions a week covering all major muscle groups is the standard recommendation for preserving muscle during weight loss, medicated or not.
- See also: Progressive overload, Lean mass
- Sarcopenia
- The loss of muscle mass and strength that comes with ageing, illness or inactivity, and that raises the risk of falls, frailty and loss of independence. Rapid weight loss, medicated or not, can accelerate it, which is why older adults and people with serious illness are at particular risk during GLP-1-class treatment. Adequate protein and resistance training are the main protections.
- See also: Lean mass, Resistance training, Protein (dietary)
- Semaglutide
- A once-weekly injectable medicine that activates the GLP-1 receptor only. It is licensed in the UK as Wegovy for weight management, recommended by NICE (TA875), and as Ozempic for type 2 diabetes. In its main obesity trial people lost about 15% of body weight over 68 weeks. Counterfeit semaglutide pens have been found in the UK, some containing insulin.
- See also: GLP-1, Tirzepatide, Triple agonist, Counterfeit
- Sepsis
- A life-threatening overreaction of the body to infection. Injecting a non-sterile product can introduce bacteria under the skin or into the bloodstream. Signs include fever or feeling very cold, fast breathing, confusion, mottled or very pale skin, and feeling extremely unwell. It is a 999 emergency.
- See also: Sterility, Endotoxin
- Special (unlicensed medicine)
- A 'special' is an unlicensed medicine made or imported by a licensed manufacturer to meet the special clinical need of an individual patient, on the responsibility of a doctor or other prescriber, where no licensed medicine will do. Specials cannot be advertised or sold to the public. The route exists for named patients, not for businesses to sell an investigational drug, and products sold online as retatrutide are not specials.
- See also: Unlicensed medicine, Human Medicines Regulations 2012, Off-label
- Sterility
- The complete absence of living micro-organisms. Every licensed injectable is made in validated sterile conditions and batch-tested. A clear solution can still be non-sterile. 'Purity' on a certificate is not a sterility result.
- See also: Endotoxin, GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice), Sepsis
- Subcutaneous
- Into the layer of fat just under the skin. Retatrutide, semaglutide and tirzepatide are all subcutaneous injections, given in trials and licensed use with a pre-filled pen or syringe under clinical supervision. Injecting anything under the skin carries a risk of infection if the product or the equipment is not sterile. This site describes the route only and gives no guidance on injecting.
- See also: Sterility, Sepsis, Peptide
- Telogen effluvium
- A temporary form of hair loss in which more hairs than usual enter the resting phase and fall out two to four months after a stress on the body, such as rapid weight loss, illness or low protein intake. Hair loss was reported in trials of semaglutide and tirzepatide and is a common theme in community reports about weight-loss injections. It usually recovers on its own once weight stabilises and nutrition is adequate; a GP can check for other causes.
- See also: Protein (dietary), Lean mass
- Thyroid C-cell tumours
- GLP-1-class medicines carry a warning because they caused thyroid C-cell tumours in rodents. Whether this applies to humans is not established, but people with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer or MEN2 are excluded from trials and from licensed use. The same caution would apply to retatrutide.
- See also: GLP-1
- Tirzepatide
- A once-weekly injectable medicine, made by Eli Lilly, that activates both the GLP-1 and GIP receptors. It is licensed in the UK as Mounjaro for weight management (NICE TA1026) and type 2 diabetes. In its main obesity trial people lost about 21% of body weight over 72 weeks. TRIUMPH-5 is comparing retatrutide directly with tirzepatide and has not yet reported. The MHRA has seized thousands of unlicensed tirzepatide pens alongside retatrutide.
- See also: GIP, GLP-1, Semaglutide, Triple agonist
- Titration
- Gradually increasing a dose over time, usually to reduce side effects. In retatrutide trials the schedule was fixed by the study protocol and supervised by clinicians. This site describes titration only as a trial design fact and provides no guidance on it.
- See also: Randomised controlled trial (RCT)
- Topline results
- The first public summary of a trial's headline outcomes, usually a company press release issued weeks or months before the full peer-reviewed paper. Topline results are usually accurate but incomplete; details such as heart rate, lab values and subgroup effects come later.
- See also: Randomised controlled trial (RCT)
- Treatment-regimen estimand
- A trial result that includes every randomised participant whether or not they stayed on the drug. It reflects what happened to the whole group in practice and is the more conservative figure. In TRIUMPH-1 the 12 mg result was 25.0% on this estimand versus 28.3% on the efficacy estimand.
- See also: Estimand, Efficacy estimand
- Triple agonist
- A single molecule designed to activate three different receptors. Retatrutide activates the GLP-1, GIP and glucagon receptors, which is why it is sometimes called 'triple G'. Semaglutide is a single agonist; tirzepatide a dual agonist.
- See also: Agonist, GLP-1, GIP, Glucagon, Semaglutide, Tirzepatide
- Unlicensed medicine
- A medicinal product that has no UK marketing authorisation. Unlicensed medicines can only be supplied in narrow circumstances by registered professionals ('specials'), never advertised, and never sold to the public. Every product sold online as retatrutide is unlicensed at best and counterfeit at worst.
- See also: Human Medicines Regulations 2012, Marketing authorisation, Counterfeit, Special (unlicensed medicine)
- Weight-related comorbidity
- A medical condition made more likely or worse by excess weight: high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnoea, high cholesterol, osteoarthritis. Trials and NHS criteria often use 'overweight plus at least one comorbidity' as an entry threshold.
- See also: BMI (body mass index), Obesity
- WOMAC
- The Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, a standard questionnaire scoring pain, stiffness and physical function in knee or hip osteoarthritis. TRIUMPH-4 used the WOMAC pain score as a primary outcome.
- See also: Basket trial
- Yellow Card
- The MHRA's system for reporting suspected side effects from any medicine, vaccine, device or, importantly, unlicensed and counterfeit products. Anyone can report online or via the app. Reports from people harmed by black-market products help the MHRA detect clusters and target enforcement.
- See also: MHRA