Short-term Effects of Liraglutide on Visceral Fat Adiposity, Appetite, and Food Preference

Short-term treatment with liraglutide improved visceral fat adiposity, appetite, food preference and the urge for fat intake in obese Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes.…

The study was done to examine the effects of liraglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue, on visceral fat adiposity, appetite, food preference, and biomarkers of cardiovascular system in patients with type 2 diabetes.

The study subjects were 20 inpatients with type 2 diabetes treated with liraglutide [age; 61.2 ± 14.0 years, duration of diabetes; 16.9 ± 6.6 years, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c); 9.1 ± 1.2%, body mass index (BMI); 28.3 ± 5.2 kg/m², mean ± SD]. After improvement in glycemic control by insulin or oral glucose-lowering agents, patients were switched to liraglutide. We assessed the estimated visceral fat area (eVFA) by abdominal bioelectrical impedance analysis, glycemic control by the 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and eating behavior.

From the results it showed that the treatment with liraglutide (dose range: 0.3 to 0.9 mg/day) for 20.0 ± 6.4 days significantly reduced waist circumference, waist/hip ratio, eVFA. It also significantly improved the scores of eating behavior, food preference and the urge for fat intake and tended to reduce scores for sense of hunger. Liraglutide increased serum C-peptide immunoreactivity and disposition index.

The present study demonstrated that short-term liraglutide treatment significantly affected visceral fat adiposity, appetite, food preference, and cardiovascular biomarkers in Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes.

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In summary, short-term treatment with liraglutide effectively reduced visceral fat adiposity, appetite, and cardiovascular biomarkers in obese Japanese patients with type 2 diabetes. Longer term randomized clinical trials are warranted to more thoroughly elucidate the effect of liraglutide on these parameters.

From the results of the study it was concluded that, short-term treatment with liraglutide improved visceral fat adiposity, appetite, food preference and the urge for fat intake in obese patients with type 2 diabetes.