1.
Multicentre, placebo-controlled trial of lorcaserin for weight management in Chinese population.
Lu, CW, Chang, CJ, Yang, YC, Lin, WY, Huang, KC
Obesity research & clinical practice. 2018;(5):465-471
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate the effects of lorcaserin on body weight, cardiovascular risk factors, and safety in obese patients in Taiwan. METHODS In this double-blind, randomised controlled trial, 171 obese adults were assigned to receive lorcaserin at a dose of 10mg, or placebo, twice a day for 24weeks. Diet and exercise counselling were given to all patients through the treatment period. Primary outcomes were proportion of patients achieving at least 5% and 10% reduction in body weight and mean change in body weight. Safety and tolerability endpoints such as Beck Depression Inventory-II, blood biochemistry, vital signs, and electrocardiogram were monitored. RESULTS More patients receiving lorcaserin lost at least 5% body weight than receiving placebo (52.4% and 28.1%, P=0.001) with an average weight reduction of 5.8kg (95% CI: -6.91, -4.70) in lorcaserin group and those of 3.6kg (95% CI: -4.95, -2.33) in placebo group (P<0.05). The most common adverse effect with greater incidence in the lorcaserin group was self-limited dizziness. Serious adverse effect were rare and was reported by slightly more patients taking placebo than lorcaserin. CONCLUSIONS In this multicentre, double-blinded placebo-controlled trial, lorcaserin was effective and well-tolerable in Asia group.
2.
Cardiotrophin-1 is inversely associated with obesity in non-diabetic individuals.
Hung, HC, Lu, FH, Wu, HT, Ou, HY, Yang, YC, Wu, JS, Chang, CJ
Scientific reports. 2015;:17438
Abstract
Cardiotrophin-1 is known to be a key regulator of energy homeostasis, as well as glucose and lipid metabolism in vivo. However, there are inconsistent results of the association between cardiotrophin-1 and obesity in humans, possibly confounded by hyperglycemia. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationships among cardiotrophin-1 levels, overweight and obese individuals without diabetes in a Chinese population. The median (inter-quarter range) serum cardiotrophin-1 levels were 447.9 (230.9, 913.9), 350.6 (201.1, 666.5), and 288.1 (162.3, 572.4) pg/ml in non-diabetic subjects who were of normal weight (n = 522), overweight (n = 203), and obese (n = 93), respectively (trend test p < 0.001). Subjects who were overweight and obese had significantly lower cardiotrophin-1 levels than those with normal weight. The multivariate linear regression analyses showed that overweight (beta = -338.718, 95% CI = -552.786 ~ -124.651, p < 0.01), obese (beta = -530.275, 95% CI = -832.967 ~ -227.583, p < 0.01), and smoking (beta = -377.375, 95% CI = -654.353 ~ -100.397, p < 0.01) were negatively related to cardiotrophin-1 after adjusting for age, gender, HOMA-IR, hypertension, total cholesterol, HDL, triglyceride, eGFR, ALT, and alcohol drinking. The results of this study provided epidemiological evidence that non-diabetic subjects who were overweight or obesity had significantly lower cardiotrophin-1 concentrations than those with normal weight, and both obesity and being overweight were inversely associated with cardiotrophin-1 levels.
3.
Efficacy and safety of very-low-calorie diet in Taiwanese: a multicenter randomized, controlled trial.
Lin, WY, Wu, CH, Chu, NF, Chang, CJ
Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.). 2009;(11-12):1129-36
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Very-low-calorie diets (VLCDs) are an effective method for weight reduction in Caucasians. This study investigated the efficacy and safety of two different VLCDs (450 or 800kcal/d) in obese Taiwanese. METHODS 132 participants with BMI > or =30kg/m(2) were randomized to two VLCD groups for body weight reduction for 12 weeks. Each group had 66 participants. Anthropometric and metabolic parameters were measured. RESULTS The intention-to-treat analysis revealed that the percentage change in body weight over the 12-week treatment period was -9.14% in the VLCD-450 group and -8.98% in the VLCD-800 group. A total of 27 (40.9%) participants in the VLCD-450 group and 29 (43.9%) participants in the VLCD-800 group achieved 10% or more weight loss at the end of treatment. The body weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, fat mass, blood pressure, triglycerides, and blood glucose were statistically improved from baseline but not between the two groups. The improvement rate of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) was 41.5% in the VLCD-450 group and 50.0% in the VLCD-800 group. The incidence of adverse events did not differ significantly between the groups and no serious adverse events were reported in either group. CONCLUSION Both the VLCD-450 and 800kcal/d can effectively and safely reduce body weight and improve NAFLD in 12 weeks in obese Taiwanese participants. However, there is no additional benefit in prescribing the more restrictive diet intervention in Taiwanese.