Efficacy and safety of liraglutide 3.0 mg in obese diabetic and non-diabetic patients - a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

BACKGROUND Liraglutide in 3.0 mg subcutaneous dose daily is approved for weight reduction. OBJECTIVES To evaluate the efficacy and safety of liraglutide 3.0 mg in overweight and obese individuals irrespective of diabetic status. METHODS We performed an electronic database search in PubMed, Embase and ClinicalTrial.gov to identify all randomized control trials (RCT) that evaluated the efficacy and safety of liraglutide 3.0 mg dose compared to placebo in overweight (≥27kg/m2 ) and obese patients above 18 years of age. RESULTS We included 14 RCTs with twelve studies involving participants without diabetes and two studies with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Pooled estimates of 14 RCTs demonstrated that liraglutide 3.0 mg resulted in a significant change in body weight from baseline compared to placebo [MD = -4.91 (95% CI = -5.43, -4.39), p<0.001, I2 = 92.35%]. Ten studies showed significant reduction of waist circumference [MD = -3.55, (95% CI = -4.21, -2.89), p<0.001, I2 = 94.99%] while six studies showed significant reduction of BMI [MD = -1.86, (95% CI = -2.14, -1.57), p<0.001, I2 = 96.14%]. Liraglutide showed higher proportion of participants achieving atleast 5 % weight loss [RR = 2.23, (95% CI = 1.98, 2.52), p<0.001, I2 = 48.87%] and least 10 % weight loss [RR = 3.28, (95% CI = 2.23, 4.83), p<0.001, I2 = 78.98%] compared to placebo. Safety assessment revealed higher risk of AEs with liraglutide [RR = 1.09, (95% CI = 1.04, 1.15), p<0.01, I2 = 76.60%] while similar risk of SAEs [RR = 1.12, (95% CI = 0.89, 1.40), p=0.33, I2 = 2.29%] and TDAEs [RR = 1.14, (95% CI = 0.50, 2.60), p=0.01, I2 = 64.93%] compared to placebo. CONCLUSIONS Liraglutide in 3.0 subcutaneous dose demonstrated significant weight reduction with a reasonable safety profile for overweight or obese individuals regardless of diabetic status.