Diabetes drug may also help weight loss*

A new study published online Thursday in the Lancet suggests a diabetes drug may be used as a treatment for weight loss.

Liraglutide, the diabetes medication that has gained approval in the European market and has been sold under the brand name Victoza, is now under review by the Food and Drug Administration as a treatment for type 2 diabetes.

The study found three quarters of patients on high doses of the drug lost more body weight than a weight-loss medication known as orlistat, suggesting that the drug may have the potential as a weight management tool.

The injectable drug is known to stimulate the release of insulin when blood sugar rises too high. However it is not clear how it works to help weight loss.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the diabetes drug helps curb appetite. While that might be true, that effect may not be initially intended. Loss of appetite seems to be one of the side effects of liraglutide, as nausea and vomiting are reported in patients using the drug. Remember that high doses of radiation can also cause the same effect.

Dr. Arne Astrup, and colleagues in Denmark, compared four doses of the diabetes drug liraglutide, a placebo and the weight-loss drug orlistat in a total of 564 obese subjects who also followed a diet reduced by 500 calories and increased their physical activity.

After five months, patients on liraglutide lost 15 pounds compared with six pounds for those on the placebo and nine pounds on orlistat. Additionally, three quarters of the patients using high doses of liraglutide lost 5 percent or more of their body weight.

The diabetes drug at all doses also reduced blood pressure and at three higher doses reduced symptoms of pre-diabetes, a condition in which patients have blood sugar levels higher than normal, but lower than the levels that qualify as diabetes.

It may not be so easy for the FDA to approve the drug as a primary treatment for weight loss. Dr. Mitchell S. Roslin, chief of obesity surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, was cited as saying that the FDA has raised questions about whether the drug can cause thyroid tumors.

The study was funded by NoVo Nordisk, the Denmark based company that manufactures Victoza.

For the original study report, read http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)61375-1/abstract

By David Liu and editing by Sheilah Downey