CASE REPORT article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Predictive Toxicology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1660785
Case Report: Rhabdomyolysis following initiation of tirzepatide
Provisionally accepted
- 1Universitatsmedizin Rostock, Rostock, Germany
- 2Universitatsmedizin Rostock Zentrum fur Innere Medizin, Rostock, Germany
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We present the case of a 66-year-old woman who developed weakness, nausea, and vomiting accompanied by markedly elevated creatine kinase levels after first treatment with an increased dose of tirzepatide. Laboratory findings were consistent with rhabdomyolysis and normalized within four days following discontinuation of tirzepatide and initiation of supportive intravenous fluid therapy. The temporal relationship strongly suggests tirzepatide as a likely trigger. Off-label use, particularly for weight loss, should be avoided and approached with caution. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of rhabdomyolysis following the initial administration of tirzepatide.
Keywords: tirzepatide, Rhabdomyolysis, GLP-1 receptor agonist, Adverse Drug Reaction, muscle injury
Received: 06 Jul 2025; Accepted: 05 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bodanowitz, Mattes, Löbermann and Fritzsche. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jonas Michael Bodanowitz, Universitatsmedizin Rostock, Rostock, Germany
Micha Löbermann, Universitatsmedizin Rostock, Rostock, Germany
Carlos Fritzsche, Universitatsmedizin Rostock, Rostock, Germany
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