Lorcaserin for weight loss

January 01, 0001

Lorcaserin for weight loss

Lorcaserin is a selective serotonin 2C receptor agonist that could be useful in reducing body weight. In this double-blind clinical trial, the US authors randomly assigned 3182 obese or overweight adults (mean body- mass index of 36.2) to receive lorcaserin at a dose of 10 mg, or placebo, twice daily for 52 weeks. All patients also underwent diet and exercise counseling. At week 52, patients in the placebo group continued to receive placebo but patients in the lorcaserin group were randomly reassigned to receive either placebo or lorcaserin.

They found: "At 1 year, 55.4% of patients (883 of 1595) receiving lorcaserin and 45.1% of patients (716 of 1587) receiving placebo remained in the trial; 1553 patients continued into year 2. At 1 year, 47.5% of patients in the lorcaserin group and 20.3% in the placebo group had lost 5% or more of their body weight, corresponding to an average loss of 5.8 kg with lorcaserin and 2.2 kg with placebo during year 1. Among the patients who received lorcaserin during year 1 and who had lost 5% or more of their baseline weight at 1 year, the loss was maintained in more patients who continued to receive lorcaserin during year 2 (67.9%) than in patients who received placebo during year 2 (50.3%). Among 2472 patients evaluated at 1 year and 1127 evaluated at 2 years, the rate of cardiac valvulopathy was not increased with the use of lorcaserin. Among the most frequent adverse events reported with lorcaserin were headache, dizziness, and nausea. The rates of serious adverse events in the two groups were similar."

The authors concluded: "In conjunction with behavioral modification, lorcaserin was associated with significant weight loss and improved maintenance of weight loss, as compared with placebo."

Lorcaserin appears to be a helpful adjunct in a weight loss program for some obese patients, but it’s not a panacea.

For the full abstract, click here.

N Engl J Med 363(3):245-256, 15 July 2010 © 2010 to the Massachusetts Medical Society
Multicenter, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Lorcaserin for Weight Management. Steven R. Smith, Neil J. Weissman, Christen M. Anderson, et al. Correspondence to Dr. Smith: [email protected]

Category: T. Endocrine/Metabolic/Nutritional. Keywords: lorcaserin, serotonin agonist, weight loss, obesity, randomized controlled trial, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Linda French, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 10 August 2010

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.

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