category:benefits

GLP1s lower inflammation, Psoriasis, AND increase fertility?

We look into the anti-inflammatory effects of GLP1s and their effects on issues like psoriasis and infertility.

GLP1.Guide Staff

26 May 2025 — 8 min read

While being one of the most tested type 2 diabetes and weight loss solutions, GLP1s are not yet fully understood – understanding of how GLP1 Receptor Agonists work has shifted from being gut-based to brain-based and research is still underway.

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Don't know what a GLP1 Receptor Agonist is, or how drugs like Ozempic, Mounjaro, Wegovy, or Zepbound work?

Check out our quick explainer

One of the best things about GLP1 drugs (Ozempic, Mounjaro, Wegovy, Zepbound, and others) is that because of how well they have been studies, there are many research trials with large cohorts (participants) and a wide group of people that are actually taking them in the real world.

If GLP1s were likely to severely hurt or kill people within the first year or five years of taking it, we'd know already (and the drugs would have been pulled).

We can't derive any truths about what GLP1s might do after taking them for 15 or 30 years, but for now, they're known to be incredibly safe for how effective they can be (and when we find risks or negative side effects, or meaningful differences between medications, we report them!).

Today, we're focusing on another positive benefit of GLP1s – reducing inflammation.

GLP1s reducing inflammation, and helping with Psoriasis

The anecdotal evidence seems to be growing with respect to GLP1s reducing inflammation:

There are a wide range of diseases for which being overweight exacerbates negative symptoms – GLP1s are becoming even more beneficial when treating these diseases in addition to other lifestyle changes where possible.

A key supporting study for this was published in the New England Journal of Medicine:

More concretely, this plays out and is observable in it's effect on conditions like Psoriasis:

The basic theory behind this study was that GLP1s are anti-inflammatory and modulate the over-active immune system of sufferers of psoriasis. This lead to:

Modulation of cells that drive inflammation: Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells contribute to psoriasis by driving inflammation. GLP-1RAs help by redistributing these cells from psoriatic plaques to the bloodstream, reducing local inflammation and restoring immune balance. This process also promotes anti-inflammatory signaling by increasing the production of IL-10, further supporting psoriasis improvement.

Reduction in γδ T Cells: Dermal γδ T cells are another important contributor to psoriasis pathogenesis, primarily through the production of IL-17. GLP-1RAs have been shown to decrease γδ T-cell activity in psoriatic lesions, leading to decreased IL-17 levels and clinical improvement in psoriasis severity.

Inhibition of TNF-α signaling and immune cell migration: There is some evidence that GLP-1RAs inhibit TNF-α signaling and reduce immune cell migration, including CD4+ lymphocytes. Collectively, these changes lead to reduced proinflammatory cytokine production, which further mitigates the inflammatory response in psoriasis.

The key studies are listed below, so you can read them directly:

One important thing to note was that the effects of GLP1 drugs on patients without T2D did not necessarily support the conclusion that GLP1s are always helpful – GLP1s may not help those that aren't already suffering from type 2 diabetes.

Even with that caveat, the improvement to life quality of sufferers of psoriasis that also suffer from type 2 diabetes and other obesity-related issues is immense.

A link to increased fertility?

Anecdotal reports have been also growing about women finding that they are more fertile when taking GLP1s, with pregnancies that were slow to materialize happening much faster.

The Cleveland clinic breaks it down quite simply, but we'll sum it up for you – the factors that seem to currently be linked to this increase in fertility are:

Weight loss
Decreased Inflammation
Regulating testosterone levels
Encouraging ovulation

Building a high quality study on fertility is incredibly difficult and time consuming, so it may be a while until we can see a trial that really puts scientific rigor behind these theories, but for now we have a direction to look in.

GLP1s are widely beneficial, but still aren't miracle drugs

There is no such as a cure-all miracle drug, and GLP1s don't break that trend.

Thanks to careful research and years of trials, testing and FDA scrutiny, we know that GLP1s do help in at least two very concrete areas:

Type 2 diabetes
Weight management

There are a lot of knock-on effects from these benefits, and while anecdotal data is everpresent, "hard" data (reinforced by research, studies and trials) is most important.

That said, we've tried to cover benefits as they come out: