Pharmaceutical Therapies for the Treatment of Obesity: A Network Meta-analysis

Mina Morsali; Jalal Poorolajal; Fatemeh Shahbazi; Aliasghar Vahidinia; Amin Doosti-Irani

doi:10.1016/j.clinthera.2023.06.003

Pharmaceutical Therapies for the Treatment of Obesity: A Network Meta-analysis

Clin Ther. 2023 Jul;45(7):671-678. doi: 10.1016/j.clinthera.2023.06.003. Epub 2023 Jul 2.

Authors

Mina Morsali¹, Jalal Poorolajal², Fatemeh Shahbazi¹, Aliasghar Vahidinia³, Amin Doosti-Irani⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
² Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran; Modeling of Noncommunicable Diseases Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
³ Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran; Research Center for Health Sciences, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. Electronic address: a.doosti@umsha.ac.ir.

PMID: 37400324
DOI: 10.1016/j.clinthera.2023.06.003

Abstract

Purpose: Despite the introduction of various pharmaceutical therapies for treating obesity, selecting the optimal treatment remains challenging for both patients and physicians. Therefore, in this network meta-analysis (NMA), we aim to simultaneously compare the available drugs for treating obesity to determine the most effective treatment options.

Methods: International databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and Embase, were searched for studies published from database inception to April 2023. The consistency assumption was evaluated using by the loop-specific and design × treatment interaction approaches. The effects of treatment in the NMA were summarized using mean differences based on a change score analysis. The random-effects model was used to report the results. Results were reported with 95% CIs.

Findings: Of 9519 retrieved references, 96 randomized controlled trials, including 68 with both men and women, 23 with women only, and 5 with men only, met the eligibility criteria for this study. There were 4 treatment networks in the trials of both men and women, 4 in the trials of women only, and 1 in the trials of men only. The best-ranked treatments in the network in the trials of both men and women were (1) semaglutide, 2.4 mg (P-score = 0.99); (2) hydroxycitric acid, 4667 mg 3 times daily, supervised walking, and 2000-kcal/d diet (P-score = 0.92); (3) phentermine hydrochloride and behavioral therapy (P-score = 0.92); and (4) liraglutide plus advice to diet and exercise (P-score = 1.00). In women, the best-ranked treatments were beloranib (P-score = 0.98) and sibutramine, metformin, and hypocaloric diet (P-score = 0.90). In men, there was no significant difference among treatments.

Implications: According to the results of this NMA, semaglutide seems to be an effective treatment option for both men and women, whereas beloranib appears to be particularly effective for women with obesity and overweight, but its production has been stopped since 2016 and is not available.

Keywords: Drug therapy; Network meta-analysis; Obesity; Systematic review.

Publication types

Meta-Analysis
Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Diet, Reducing*
Female
Humans
Male
Network Meta-Analysis
Obesity* / drug therapy
Pharmaceutical Preparations
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

Substances

CKD732
Pharmaceutical Preparations