Diethylpropion is effective and well tolerated for weight loss
MedWire News: The appetite suppressant diethylpropion produces sustained and significant weight loss long-term and is well-tolerated, show results from a small randomized controlled trial.
Diethylpropion is an “amphetamine-like” sympathomimetic appetite suppressant, which acts by stimulating the sympathetic nervous system.
“Although diethylpropion is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of obesity since 1959, few studies had evaluated its use for more than 12 weeks,” explain Cintia Cercato (University of São Paulo, Brazil) and colleagues.
As most previous studies were less than 20 weeks in duration, Cercato and team carried out a year-long study to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of diethylpropion long-term.
After undergoing a 2-week screening period, 69 obese (body mass index [BMI] 30–45 kg/m2), but otherwise healthy, adults were assigned to a hypocaloric diet (30% fat, 15% protein, 55% carbohydrate) and then randomly assigned (double-blind) to take either diethylpropion 100 mg/day (n=37) or placebo (n=32) for 6 months.
At 6 months the trial became open-label and all remaining participants received diethylpropion. Overall, 22 patients from the placebo and 30 from the diethylpropion group completed 6 months of the study. The corresponding numbers at 12 months were 15 and 21 individuals, respectively.
Reporting in the International Journal of Obesity, the researchers write that at 6 months those in the diethylpropion group had achieved a 9.8% reduction in initial weight (average weight loss of 9.3 kg) versus a 3.7% reduction in (average weight loss of 3.1 kg) the placebo group, a statistically significant difference.
At 12 months, the participants treated with diethylpropion throughout the study had achieved a 10.6% reduction in initial weight (average weight loss of 10.1 kg) compared with a 7.0% (mean 6.7 kg) reduction in initial weight achieved by those who switched from placebo to diethylpropion at 6 months.
The cohort were closely monitored for adverse events, which were generally minor. Only dry mouth and insomnia occurred significantly more often in the diethylpropion group than in the placebo group, and this was only for the first 3 months. Contrary to expectations, treatment with diethylpropion did not appear to significantly increase blood pressure.
Of note, total cholesterol, triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were reduced significantly more in the diethylpropion than the placebo group.
The authors concede that the study was small and say that more studies are desirable in the future.
However, they conclude that their results are encouraging and suggest that diethylpropion may induce greater weight reduction than the alternative weight-loss drugs orlistat and sibutramine.
MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a part of Springer Science+Business Media. © Current Medicine Group Ltd; 2009
Diethylpropion is an “amphetamine-like” sympathomimetic appetite suppressant, which acts by stimulating the sympathetic nervous system.
“Although diethylpropion is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treatment of obesity since 1959, few studies had evaluated its use for more than 12 weeks,” explain Cintia Cercato (University of São Paulo, Brazil) and colleagues.
As most previous studies were less than 20 weeks in duration, Cercato and team carried out a year-long study to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of diethylpropion long-term.
After undergoing a 2-week screening period, 69 obese (body mass index [BMI] 30–45 kg/m2), but otherwise healthy, adults were assigned to a hypocaloric diet (30% fat, 15% protein, 55% carbohydrate) and then randomly assigned (double-blind) to take either diethylpropion 100 mg/day (n=37) or placebo (n=32) for 6 months.
At 6 months the trial became open-label and all remaining participants received diethylpropion. Overall, 22 patients from the placebo and 30 from the diethylpropion group completed 6 months of the study. The corresponding numbers at 12 months were 15 and 21 individuals, respectively.
Reporting in the International Journal of Obesity, the researchers write that at 6 months those in the diethylpropion group had achieved a 9.8% reduction in initial weight (average weight loss of 9.3 kg) versus a 3.7% reduction in (average weight loss of 3.1 kg) the placebo group, a statistically significant difference.
At 12 months, the participants treated with diethylpropion throughout the study had achieved a 10.6% reduction in initial weight (average weight loss of 10.1 kg) compared with a 7.0% (mean 6.7 kg) reduction in initial weight achieved by those who switched from placebo to diethylpropion at 6 months.
The cohort were closely monitored for adverse events, which were generally minor. Only dry mouth and insomnia occurred significantly more often in the diethylpropion group than in the placebo group, and this was only for the first 3 months. Contrary to expectations, treatment with diethylpropion did not appear to significantly increase blood pressure.
Of note, total cholesterol, triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels were reduced significantly more in the diethylpropion than the placebo group.
The authors concede that the study was small and say that more studies are desirable in the future.
However, they conclude that their results are encouraging and suggest that diethylpropion may induce greater weight reduction than the alternative weight-loss drugs orlistat and sibutramine.
MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a part of Springer Science+Business Media. © Current Medicine Group Ltd; 2009
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