Intragastric injection botulinum toxin A for obesity management with or without liraglutide.

OBJECTIVE: Obesity is a global public health problem with rapidly increasing prevalence in many countries, including Turkey, and different treatment modalities have been used. This study aimed to compare the effect of intragastric botulinum toxin A (BTA) injection and BTA injection combined with low-dose liraglutide in patients with obesity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Records of 701 patients (female/male, 660:41; mean age, 45.6 ± 6.2 years) who received an intragastric injection of BTA for weight loss between November 2019 and May 2020 were reviewed retrospectively. The patients were divided into the BTA group, which included patients who received BTA injection alone, and BTA + liraglutide, which included those who used liraglutide after BTA injection. The demographic characteristics and comorbid diseases of the patients and follow-up results 6 months after the procedure were evaluated. RESULTS: In the comparison of the 3-month and 6-month weights of the patients, weight measurements were significantly lower in the BTA + liraglutide group than in the BTA group (p < 0.001 and p  < 0.001, respectively). Adverse effects were observed in 212 (30.2%) of the study participants, of which 25% were observed in the BTA group and 31.8% in the BTA + liraglutide group, with no significant difference. CONCLUSIONS: The intragastric injection of BTA combined with liraglutide is a safe method that provides more effective weight loss than BTA alone, which is minimally invasive without any serious adverse effects.

Effect of hyaluronic acid on bone formation in the expanded interpremaxillary suture in rats.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the histomorphometric effects of different molecular weight hyaluronic acid on bone formation in rats after expansion of the interpremaxillary suture. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-four male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into three groups. Each group was subjected to expansion for 5 days and retention for 10 days. Group 1 received 50 µl of high molecular weight hyaluronic acid (HMWHA), group 2 received 50 µl of low molecular weight hyaluronic acid (LMWHA), and the control group received same amount of saline solution to the interpremaxillary suture. Ten days after injection, the rats were killed and their maxillas dissected. For the histomorphometric evaluation, blocks were serially sectioned at 10-µm intervals. Sections were stained with hematoxylin-eosin (HE) and evaluated with image analysis software. Bone area (µm²) (BA), bone perimeter of suture borders (µm) (BP), and ratio of osteoblast cells and capillary cells to BA and BP parameters were evaluated. RESULTS: HMWHA showed a statistically higher ratio of osteoblast and capillary cell scores compared with the LMWHA and control groups (p < 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in between LMWHA and control groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Local injection of HMWHA in the interpremaxillary suture after rapid maxillary expansion stimulated new bone formation, which may shorten the retention period and may reduce the risk of relapse. LMWHA has no effect on bone formation in interpremaxillary suture.