Advances in Research

Background: By 2025, it is projected that one billion adults will be classified as having obesity worldwide. Unfortunately, the disease of obesity remains vastly undertreated. As an example, in the United States, nearly half of the adults meet recommendations for anti-obesity pharmacotherapy (defined as having a BMI ≥ 30, or a BMI ≥ 27 with weight-related diseases).

Owing to its impact on weight loss, remission of diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome, treatment of obesity with medical therapy like Liraglutide 3.0 mg injection has offered hope for obese individuals. In recent years, obesity has increased in the UAE and the use of medical treatment for obesity has increased in-line with this trend. However, data regarding medical treatment for obesity outcomes in diabetic and non-diabetic Emirati people is scarce.

Objectives:  The primary objective of the study is to evaluate the effect of Liraglutide 3.0 mg injection for weight management in patients with diabetes mellitus. In addition, we evaluated the impact of weight reduction in improving the metabolic parameters (HbA1c and LDL-c for a patient living with type2 diabetes).

Secondary objectives include improvement of infertility in females with PCOS and improvement of psychological well-being, functional capacity and quality of life. Also, we evaluated the response post-bariatric group who received Liraglutide 3.0 mg to treat their post-bariatric weight regain.

Results: In terms of weight changes, the average weight at baseline was 100.98 kg and had decreased to 97.54 kg, 96.00 kg, and 96.37 kg at 3, 6, and 12 months, respectively. Males experienced a greater rate of weight reduction than females, while diabetic patients had a lower percentage of weight loss than non-diabetic patients. Additionally, patients with PCOS were able to conceive after reducing 10% of their body weight after using Liraglutide, while the remaining 15 patients who were married but unable to conceive had an improvement in their menstrual cycle and hirsutism.

Conclusion: The results demonstrated that Liraglutide helps to induce and sustain weight loss in patients with obesity. It is an effective treatment for weight reduction and offers the unique benefit of improved glycaemic control. In addition, the study identified a correlation between weight reduction and improvements in psychological health, quality of life, and fertility in females with PCOS. Additional studies are needed to determine its long-term efficacy and safety profile.