Importance: Medical treatment options for pediatric obesity remain limited. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists induce weight loss by suppressing appetite and increasing satiety, but few studies have evaluated this therapy as a treatment for obesity.
Objective: To evaluate the effects of exenatide on body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) and cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescents with severe obesity.
Design: Three-month, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter clinical trial followed by a 3-month open-label extension.
Setting: An academic medical center and an outpatient pediatric endocrinology clinic.
Patients: A total of 26 adolescents (12-19 years of age) with severe obesity (BMI ≥ 1.2 times the 95th percentile or BMI ≥ 35).
Intervention: All patients received lifestyle modification counseling and were equally randomized to exenatide or placebo injection, twice per day.
Main outcome measures: The primary end point was the mean percent change in BMI measured at baseline and 3 months. Secondary end points included absolute change in BMI, body weight, body fat, blood pressure, hemoglobin A1c, fasting glucose, fasting insulin, and lipids at 3 months.
Results: Twenty-two patients completed the trial. Exenatide elicited a greater reduction in percent change in BMI compared with placebo (-2.70% [95% CI, -5.02% to -0.37%]; P = .03). Similar findings were observed for absolute change in BMI (-1.13 [95% CI, -2.03 to -0.24]; P = .02) and body weight (-3.26 kg [95% CI, -5.87 to -0.66 kg]; P = .02). Although not reaching the level of statistical significance, reduction in systolic blood pressure was observed with exenatide. During the open-label extension, BMI was further reduced in those initially randomized to exenatide (cumulative BMI reduction of 4%).
Conclusions and relevance: These results provide preliminary evidence supporting the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of GLP-1 receptor agonist therapy for the treatment of severe obesity in adolescents.
Trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01237197.