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Liraglutide 3 mg effective for reversing prediabetes
Treatment with subcutaneous liraglutide 3 mg in adults with prediabetes and overweight or obesity may be effective for reducing the risk for progression to diabetes, according to findings published in Lancet.
“Obesity complicated by prediabetes is a complex and chronic disease of the bran and pancreas with enormous implications for the individual, health care systems and society,” Carel W. le Roux, PhD, MSc, MBChB, FRCP, FRCPath, professor in the Diabetes Complications Research Centre, Conway Institute, University College Dublin, told Endocrine Today. “We are not starting to have effective treatment that can help our patients.”
Le Roux and colleagues evaluated data from the SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes trial on 2,254 adults with prediabetes and BMI of at least 30 kg/m2, or 27 kg/m2 with comorbidities, randomly assigned to subcutaneous liraglutide 3 mg (Saxenda, Novo Nordisk; n = 1,505) or placebo (n = 749) to determine the effect of liraglutide on preventing progression to diabetes over 3 years. All participants were assigned to a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity.
At the end of the study period, fewer participants in the liraglutide group were diagnosed with diabetes (2%) compared with the placebo group (6%). From randomization to diagnosis, the time to diabetes diagnosis was 2.7 times longer in the liraglutide group compared with the placebo group (HR = 0.21; 95% CI, 0.13-0.34).
The regression from prediabetes to normoglycemia was more common in the liraglutide group (66%) compared with the placebo group (36%) by the end of the study (OR = 3.6; 95% CI, 3-4.4). Twelve weeks after treatment cessation, despite some participants reverting to prediabetes, more participants in the liraglutide group remained without prediabetes (50%) compared with the placebo group (36%; P < .0001).
Weight loss was greater in the liraglutide group (–6.1%) compared with the placebo group (–1.9%) at the end of the study (P < .0001).
“The effectiveness of liraglutide 3 mg has now been proven over 3 years in patients with obesity and prediabetes,” le Roux told Endocrine Today. “We now need to work out how we can target those patients that can benefit most from this effective treatment. We need to establish methods how we can predict which patients will have the most benefit with the lowest side effect profile. Moreover, we need to find out how we can improve the cost effectiveness of this treatment.” – by Amber Cox
For more information:
Carel W. le Roux , PhD, MSc, MBChB, FRCP, FRCPath , can be reached at Conway Institute, University College Dublin, Ireland; +353 (0)864117842.
Disclosure: le Roux reports various financial ties with Boehringer Ingelheim, Ehticon EndoSurgery, Fractyl, GI Dynamics, Herbalife, Janssen, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.