Tesofensine helps patients with obesity to lose weight

The experimental anti-obesity drug tesofensine not only helps patients with obesity to lose weight, but also helps them to lose the right kind of weight and in the right places, researchers reported here at the 16th European Congress on Obesity (ECO). Danish researchers studied the effects of tesofensine on body composition, including body weight, fat mass, waist circumference, and sagittal diameter (a measure of the upper abdomen).

The team was led by Anders Sjodin, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Human Nutrition, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

The study, presented on May 16, was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2b trial of 203 otherwise healthy men and women with obesity (defined as body mass index between 30 and 40).

After a diet and exercise lead-in period of 2 weeks, the patients were put on 24 weeks of tesofensine in once-daily doses of 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1.0 mg, or corresponding placebo.

Body weight loss was 2.3 kg for the placebo group, 6.8 kg for the 0.25-mg group, 11.4 kg for the 0.50-mg group, and 12.7 kg for the 1.0-mg group.

Sagittal diameter decreased 0.6 cm in the placebo group, 2.1 cm in the 0.25-mg group, 3.3 cm in the 0.5-mg group, and 3.5 cm in the 1.0-mg group.

Waist circumference decreased 3.0 cm in the placebo group, 6.4 cm in the 0.25-mg group, 9.8 cm in the 0.5-mg group, and 9.8 cm in the 1.0-mg group.

Of particular importance to the research were the measurements for reduction in fat mass. Fat mass decreased 2.8 kg in the placebo group, 5.7 kg in the 0.25-mg group, 9.2 kg in the 0.5-mg group, and 10.1 kg in the 1.0-mg group. The reductions accounted for 108% of total weight loss in the placebo group, 85% in the 0.25-mg group, 81% in the 0.5-mg group, and 79% in the 1.0-mg group.

"Eighty percent [of the weight reduction] could be accounted for by a reduction in fat mass," said Dr. Sjodin.

"The concomitant decrease seen in sagittal diameter and waist circumference, therefore indicates that tenofensine is highly effective in reducing central obesity," Dr. Sjodin concluded.

Dr. Sjodin and his collaborators also claimed that tesofensine was shown to result in weight reductions that are twice that produced by currently available anti-obesity drugs.

Tesofensine acts by inhibiting the presynaptic uptake of the neurotransmitters noradrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin.

Source: Docguide.com