Improved weight loss drug targets hormones
Monday October 26th, 2009
Trial results are looking promising for a new drug to treat obesity, researchers have reported.
Liraglutide is currently sold as Victoza for treating type 2 diabetes by the drug firm Novo Nordisk. It is available in Germany, Denmark and the UK but has not yet been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
It reduces excessive blood sugar levels by increasing insulin secretion, and has the effect of curbing appetite. It has to be administered by injection.
Professor Arne Astrup, of Copenhagen University, Denmark, and colleagues carried out a trial of 564 adults with a body mass index of 30 to 40. Participants received liraglutide at either 1.2mg, 1.8mg, 2.4mg, or 3.0mg, or placebo once a day by injection, or the drug orlistat at 120mg three times a day orally. They also followed a reduced calorie diet and increased their exercise.
Liraglutide led to significantly more weight loss than placebo and orlistat. At each increasing dose, average weight loss was 4.8 kg, 5.5 kg, 6.3 kg, and 7.2 kg respectively. Those on placebo lost 2.8kg and orlistat, 4.1kg.
In the Lancet, the team report that more people on liraglutide lost over five per cent of their body weight. The drug also reduced blood pressure, but it did cause a higher rate of nausea and vomiting than placebo.
"Treatment with liraglutide, in addition to an energy-deficit diet and exercise programme, led to a sustained, clinically relevant, dose-dependent weight loss that was significantly greater than that with placebo (all doses) and orlistat (vs liraglutide 2.4mg and 3.0 mg)," the authors write.
Dr George Bray of Louisiana State University, USA, points out in a commentary: "Whether long-term use of an injectable drug is palatable as a treatment for obesity is yet to be established."
Astrup, A. et al. Effects of liraglutide in the treatment of obesity: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. The Lancet, published online October 23, 2009.
Bray, G. A. Gastrointestinal hormones and weight management. The Lancet, published online October 23, 2009.
Tags: Diabetes | Diet & Food | Europe | North America
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