WASHINGTON — Exenatide helps increase weight loss in obese nondiabetic patients who also are following a diet and exercise program, recent study results suggest.
Dr. Michael Trautmann, a researcher at Eli Lilly & Co., and his colleagues conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of 152 patients with a mean body mass index of 39.6 kg/m
As is typical with obesity studies, 35% of patients enrolled did not complete the study, Dr. Trautmann said.
Patients were randomized to receive placebo or 10 mcg exenatide twice daily. Lifestyle modification—consisting of a balanced, calorie-restricted diet; moderate increase in physical activity, with a target of 150 minutes per week; and counseling sessions at 4-week intervals—was prescribed for all participants, Dr. Trautmann said at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society.
The study's primary end point was change in body weight. Secondary end points included changes in glucose tolerance, physical activity, and dietary behavior.
After 24 weeks, a significantly higher percentage of exenatide-treated patients had lost at least 5% of their body weight, compared with patients on placebo (31% vs. 17%), Dr. Trautmann said. All of the patients who had lost 10% or more of their body weight were in the exenatide group.
Average weight loss in the placebo group was 1.6 kg. In the exenatide group, the average loss was 5.1 kg, “a highly significant difference,” he said.
In subgroup analysis, “due to the small sample size, one cannot conclude too much from these results, but the trend indicates that in patients with mild obesity—with a BMI of less than 35 kg/m
Among patients with impaired glucose tolerance at baseline, three-quarters who were on exenatide normalized their glucose levels, compared with slightly more than half of the patients on placebo, he said. “Clearly, weight loss is known to improve glucose tolerance.”
The study was sponsored by Eli Lilly and Amylin Pharmaceuticals.
All of the patients who had lost 10% or more of their body weight were in the exenatide group.
Source DR. TRAUTMANN