Introduction: Obesity is a major public health concern and is associated with numerous medical conditions including cardiovascular disease (CVD), diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders, cancers and premature death. Globally, it is estimated that more than 1.5 billion adults are overweight or obese and the figure is escalating. Hypertension often coexists with obesity. The once-daily human glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analog, liraglutide has shown to provide effective glycemic control with low rates of hypoglycemia, weight loss, and reduced systolic blood pressure (SBP) in type 2 diabetic and non-diabetic subjects but its effect in binge-eating obese subjects is not yet known. The aim of this study is to investigate if liraglutide can cause weight loss in obese binge-eating non-diabetic subjects.

Methods: 42 healthy obese binge-eating participants were randomly assigned to liraglutide and lifestyle modification (diet and exercise) or lifestyle modification alone for 12 weeks.The endpoint was the change in body weight, body-mass index (BMI), waist circumference and SBP. Liraglutide  was given at 0.6mg once daily for first week, then titrated to 1.2mg for second week and 1.8mg from the third week onwards.

Results:  There were significant reduction in body weight and BMI following treatment with liraglutide for 12 weeks (p<0.05). The median weight decreased from pre-treatment (91.1) to post-treatment (87.7). The median BMI decreased from 36.9 to 34.7. In the control arm, there was a slight increase in body weight from 88.2 to 88.3 but decrease in BMI from 35.2 to 34.8 but was not significant (p=0.322). In the liraglutide arm, there was a significant reduction in SBP from 129 pre-treatment to 118 post-treatment (p=0.018) and waist circumference 99.5 to 96 (p=0.006), both these parameters shown no change in the control arm.

Conclusion: Liraglutide, with diet and exercise cause meaningful weight loss and reduced SBP in non-diabetic obese binge-eating subjects.