WEDNESDAY, Nov. 8, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Tirzepatide provides substantial additional reduction in body weight in participants who already achieved ≥5.0 percent weight reduction with an intensive lifestyle intervention, according to a study published online Oct. 15 in Nature Medicine to coincide with the annual meeting of The Obesity Society (ObesityWeek), held from Oct. 14 to 17 in Dallas.
Thomas A. Wadden, Ph.D., from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and colleagues randomly assigned (1:1) 579 adults with body mass index ≥30 or ≥27 kg/m2 and at least one obesity-related complication (excluding diabetes), who achieved ≥5.0 percent weight reduction after a 12-week intensive lifestyle intervention, to the tirzepatide maximum tolerated dose (10 or 15 mg) or placebo once weekly for 72 weeks.
The researchers found that the coprimary end point of additional mean percent weight change from randomization to week 72 was met with changes of −18.4 percent with tirzepatide and 2.5 percent with placebo. For the additional coprimary end point of the percentage of participants achieving additional weight reduction ≥5 percent, 87.5 percent of participants taking tirzepatide and 16.5 percent taking placebo achieved this threshold (odds ratio, 34.6 percent). Gastrointestinal events, most being mild to moderate in severity, were the most common adverse events seen with tirzepatide.
“The additional weight loss produced further improvements, compared with placebo, in multiple measures of health, including waist circumference, blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides, blood sugar, and physical functioning,” Wadden said in a statement.
Several authors disclosed ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Eli Lilly, which manufactures tirzepatide and funded the study.
On Wednesday, November 8, 2023, a study published in Nature Medicine revealed that Tirzepatide, a medication, provides significant additional weight reduction for participants who have already achieved a weight reduction of at least 5.0 percent through an intensive lifestyle intervention. The study was coincided with the annual meeting of The Obesity Society (ObesityWeek) held in Dallas from October 14 to 17, 2023.
The study was conducted by Thomas A. Wadden, Ph.D., and his colleagues from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. They randomly assigned 579 adults who had a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, or 27 or higher with at least one obesity-related complication (excluding diabetes). These participants had already achieved a weight reduction of at least 5.0 percent after a 12-week intensive lifestyle intervention. They were then given either the maximum tolerated dose of tirzepatide (10 or 15 mg) or a placebo once weekly for a total of 72 weeks.
The researchers found that tirzepatide resulted in a further reduction in mean percent weight change compared to the placebo. Specifically, participants taking tirzepatide experienced a weight reduction of -18.4 percent, while those on placebo only had a reduction of 2.5 percent. Additionally, a significantly higher percentage of participants taking tirzepatide (87.5 percent) achieved an additional weight reduction of at least 5 percent compared to those on placebo (16.5 percent).
The most common adverse events associated with tirzepatide were mild to moderate gastrointestinal events. However, the additional weight loss achieved with tirzepatide led to improvements in various health measures, including waist circumference, blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride levels, blood sugar levels, and physical functioning.
It is important to note that several authors of the study disclosed their ties to pharmaceutical companies, including Eli Lilly, the manufacturer of tirzepatide, which also funded the study.
For more information, you can read the full study in Nature Medicine, or visit the ObesityWeek website.