Data Show Xenical Improves Glucose And Lipid
Levels In Diabetics
August 3, 1998
DALLAS, TX
Xenical:
Prices and Ordering Information
Anti-obesity
drug therapy with Hoffmann-La Roche's Xenical (orlistat)
prevents the progression of Type II diabetes in obese patients
with elevated glucose levels and can potentially eliminate the
need for sulfonylurea (hypoglycemic) therapy, according to a
new study published in the current issue of Diabetes Care.
The study showed that in addition
to achieving clinically meaningful weight loss and maintenance
of weight loss, patients taking orlistat also showed improved
LDL/HDL ratios and total cholesterol and triglyceride levels
for up to one year. Furthermore, almost half of orlistat
treated patients were able to decrease their average dose of
oral sulfonylurea medication compared with less than a third
of placebo-treated patients.
"This study is significant
because it shows that Xenical not only promotes weight loss
but also improves glycemic control and lowers sulfonylurea
dose requirements in patients with type II diabetes," said
Priscilla Hollander, M.D., Ph.D., medical director,
Baylor-Ruth Collins Diabetes Center, at Baylor University
Medical Center in Dallas, the study's lead investigator.
"Xenical also demonstrates a beneficial effect on lipids
independent of what we would expect from weight loss alone.
This may be related to Xenical's mechanism of action, which
reduces the absorption of dietary fat."
Xenical represents an entirely
new class of drugs called lipase inhibitors that act locally
in the gastrointestinal tract to prevent the absorption of a
portion of dietary fat. This randomised, placebo-controlled,
multi-centre trial was conducted at 12 prominent research
centres in the U.S. A total of 391 obese men and women with
type II diabetes being treated with oral sulfonylureas were
given 120 mg of orlistat or placebo three times a day and
followed a mildly hypocaloric diet for one year.
Results indicate that more than
twice as many patients in the Xenical group lost five percent
of initial body weight as compared to patients in the placebo
group. Furthermore, compared to placebo plus diet
modification, patients receiving orlistat in conjunction with
diet modification showed significant improvements in glycemic
control and were able to decrease their dosage of oral
sulfonylurea medication. Xenical treatment also resulted in
significantly greater improvements than placebo in several
lipid parameters.
"While weight loss is almost
always recommended as first line therapy for Type II diabetes,
it is very difficult to achieve and maintain weight loss in
patients on sulfonylurea medications since these therapies
tend to promote weight gain," Dr. Hollander said.
"Unfortunately, current approaches to weight loss have been
ineffective in promoting long-term weight loss and improving
glycemic control. Orlistat is the first pharmacotherapy to be
studied in a long-term, large-scale study in obese patients
with Type II diabetes and it shows great promise for this
patient population."
The study's authors' point out
that while a number of other pharmacologic agents have been
used in obese patients to promote weight loss, most of these
drugs act on the central nervous system to suppress appetite.
As a result, in patients with Type II diabetes, the use of
these drugs is strictly regulated.
Obese individuals have a three
times greater risk of developing Type II diabetes and, of the
estimated 15 million Americans who have the disease, up to 80
percent are overweight or obese. Left untreated in patients
with Type II diabetes, obesity can lead to many serious and
potentially life-threatening conditions including heart
disease, stroke, kidney failure, impotence, blindness and
nerve damage
