Weight loss response in patients with obesity treated with injectable semaglutide in a real-world setting.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is defined as excess adipose tissue causing a deterioration in health, but diagnosing the causes and deciding on treatment can be challenging. Several randomized controlled clinical trials (RCT) have demonstrated the effectiveness of semaglutide as a treatment for obesity. This study investigated the clinical response to semaglutide as a weight loss treatment in a real-world setting. METHODS: This observational study investigated the response to injectable semaglutide in the first 3 months during the dose titration phase up to 1 mg. Weight loss after 6 months was also evaluated. The data were collected from the electronic medical records (EMR) from outpatient clinics between July 2021 to March 2023. All participants were older than 18 years, with no history of bariatric surgery within 1 year, and had a least one prescription of injectable semaglutide. The primary outcome was weight change at 3 months. Weight loss in those patients who attended at 6 months was a secondary outcome. RESULTS: A total of 350 patients were included in the study. The vast majority (80.3%) were female. 287 patients (82%) completed 3 months on injectable semaglutide and lost 6.6 ± 3.8% bodyweight. 224 patients (64%) completed 6 months on semaglutide and lost 12 ± 6.1% bodyweight. 188 (65.5%) of patients who completed 3-month follow-up lost ≥5% weight, 39 (13.5%) patients lost ≥10% weight, and 7 (2.4%) patients lost ≥15% weight. While for those patients who completed the 2nd visit (n = 224), 201 (89.7%) lost ≥5% weight, 135 (60.3%) lost ≥10% weight, and 54 (24.1%) lost ≥ 15% body weight. CONCLUSION: Injectable semaglutide in a real-world setting resulted in similar weight loss and had a similar side effect profile as was observed in randomized controlled trials.

Perceived Benefits of Bariatric Surgery: Patient Perspectives.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is a chronic and complex disease characterized by the excessive accumulation of adipose tissue, which has detrimental effects on health. Evaluating the changes in quality of life (QoL) after bariatric surgery complements the medical benefits which are documented by healthcare professionals. PURPOSE: To study the perceived health benefits 1 year after substantial weight loss induced by bariatric surgery. METHODS: This pilot study evaluated patients 1 year after bariatric surgery using 13 questions related to the health domains of the KOSS: airway, body mass, cardiovascular risk, diabetes, economic impact, functional, gonadal impact, health status perceived, image, junction of the gastro-esophagus, kidney, liver, and medication. In addition, the patients were asked to score the most significant benefit as "1," while the least beneficial benefit was scored as "13." RESULTS: One hundred fourteen consecutive patients were evaluated (men = 37 and women = 77). The responses were divided into functional, metabolic, and mental/social benefits. Patients ranked the functional question, "I became more active, and I can do more things" as the most important (average score of 3.7 ± 0.2), followed by a question related to metabolic status: "I am less worried about my risk of heart disease" (4.5 ± 0.3), and then a social/mental question, "My clothes fit better" (5.4 ± 0.3). The three least valuable benefits for the cohort were sexual life improvements (8.9 ± 0.3), heartburn improvements (9.0 ± 0.3), and urinary incontinence improvements (9.8 ± 0.3). CONCLUSIONS: Our observational pilot study demonstrated that patients value functional benefits after substantial weight loss the most, but that metabolic benefits and social/mental health benefits are also considered important.

The effect of bariatric surgery on renal function and disease: a focus on outcomes and inflammation.

Renal dysfunction and disease, including hyperfiltration, proteinuria and hypofiltration, are commonly associated with obesity. Diabetic kidney disease is also common in obese cohorts. Weight loss interventions, including bariatric surgery, can effectively reduce weight and improve renal outcomes. Some of this effect may be due to the remission of Type 2 diabetes and hypertension. However, other mechanisms, including the resolution of inflammatory processes, may also contribute. The effect of bariatric surgery on renal function has only recently become a focus of particular investigation. In this study, we will review the effects of bariatric surgery on obesity-associated kidney disease. We will discuss the pitfalls in assessing renal function in obese cohorts and will examine the effect of bariatric surgery on renal function and urinary protein excretion using different mechanisms. We will give particular attention to the evidence for bariatric surgery in cohorts with established renal disease and suggest future directions. In particular, we will outline the evidence for inflammation as an important therapeutic target, and the emerging medical therapies being considered to exploit this target in obesity- and diabetes-related kidney disease.

The Effect of Metabolic Surgery on the Complications of Diabetes: What Are the Unanswered Questions?

It is now established that metabolic surgery (also known as bariatric surgery or obesity surgery) is an effective treatment for type 2 diabetes. Data from several randomized controlled trials have shown that surgery, when used as an adjunct to best medical therapy, is superior to medical therapy alone in achieving glycaemic and metabolic treatment targets in diabetes care. This has resulting in metabolic surgery being recommended as a treatment option for obesity-associated type 2 diabetes in national and international diabetes care guidelines. While the superior glycaemic effect of surgery is clear, the effect of surgery on the complications of diabetes is not fully understood. There are observational and epidemiological data that indicate a preventative effect in cohorts who do not have complications at baseline, as well as a positive effect on those with established diabetic kidney disease. However, there is a dearth of randomized controlled studies that specifically examine the effect of surgery on the complications of diabetes. Therefore, we should remain cautious in some cases, especially in those with retinopathy or neuropathy, as there is potential for deterioration of disease post-operatively. Further study is needed on this important topic. A lot is known, but there remain several unanswered questions. This article summarizes what we know about the effect of metabolic surgery on the complications of diabetes, poses some unanswered questions, and suggests how we could answer them.

Effect of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and diet-induced weight loss on diabetic kidney disease in the Zucker diabetic fatty rat.

BACKGROUND: Reductions in urinary protein excretion after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery in patients with diabetic kidney disease have been reported in multiple studies. OBJECTIVES: To determine the weight loss dependence of the effect of RYGB on urinary protein excretion by comparing renal outcomes in Zucker diabetic fatty rats undergoing either gastric bypass surgery or a sham operation with or without weight matching. SETTING: University laboratories. METHODS: Zucker diabetic fatty rats underwent surgery at 18 weeks of age. A subgroup of sham operated rats were weight matched to RYGB operated rats by restricting food intake. Urinary protein excretion was assessed at baseline and at postoperative weeks 4 and 12. Renal histology and macrophage-associated inflammation were assessed at postoperative week 12. RESULTS: Progressive urinary protein excretion was attenuated by both RYGB and diet-induced weight loss, albeit to a lesser extent by the latter. Both weight loss interventions produced equivalent reductions in glomerulomegaly, glomerulosclerosis, and evidence of renal macrophage infiltration. CONCLUSION: Weight loss per se improves renal structure and attenuates renal inflammatory responses in an experimental animal model of diabetic kidney disease. Better glycemic control post-RYGB may in part explain the greater reductions in urinary protein excretion after gastric bypass surgery.

Renal Function and Remission of Hypertension After Bariatric Surgery: a 5-Year Prospective Cohort Study.

PURPOSE: This study examines the effect of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) on renal function for at least 5 years post-operatively in a tertiary referral center for bariatric surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective cohort study of patients undergoing RYGB and LAGB measured renal function, blood pressure, and diabetes status pre-operatively and then 1 and 5 years post-operatively. Renal function was assessed using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD), Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI), and Cockcroft-Gault formulae. Hypertension and diabetes were defined by the European Society of Hypertension and European Society of Cardiology joint guidelines and American Diabetes Association guidelines, respectively. A sub-group who had completed 10 years post-operative follow-up was also included. RESULTS: Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) increased over 5 years after RYGB (N = 190; 94 ± 2 mL/min/1.73 m2 to 102 ± 22 mL/min/1.73 m2, p = 0.01) and LAGB (N = 271; 88 ± 1 to 93 ± 22 mL/min/1.73 m2, p = 0.02). In a sub-group with up to 10 years post-operative date, this trend was maintained. In patients with renal impairment, eGFR improved over 5 years (52 ± 2 to 68 ± 7 mL/min/1.73 m2, p = 0.01). Remission of hypertension was greater after RYGB than LAGB at 1 year (32 vs. 16 %, p = 0.008) and at 5 years post-operatively (23 vs. 11 %, p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Bariatric surgery stabilizes eGFR post-operatively for at least 5 years. In a sub-group with renal impairment, eGFR is increased in the first post-operative year and this is maintained for up to 5 years. RYGB is an effective procedure in achieving blood pressure control.

Link Between Increased Satiety Gut Hormones and Reduced Food Reward After Gastric Bypass Surgery for Obesity.

CONTEXT: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery is an effective long-term intervention for weight loss maintenance, reducing appetite, and also food reward, via unclear mechanisms. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of elevated satiety gut hormones after RYGB, we examined food hedonic-reward responses after their acute post-prandial suppression. DESIGN: These were randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover experimental medicine studies. PATIENTS: Two groups, more than 5 months after RYGB for obesity (n = 7-11), compared with nonobese controls (n = 10), or patients after gastric banding (BAND) surgery (n = 9) participated in the studies. INTERVENTION: Studies were performed after acute administration of the somatostatin analog octreotide or saline. In one study, patients after RYGB, and nonobese controls, performed a behavioral progressive ratio task for chocolate sweets. In another study, patients after RYGB, and controls after BAND surgery, performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging food picture evaluation task. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Octreotide increased both appetitive food reward (breakpoint) in the progressive ratio task (n = 9), and food appeal (n = 9) and reward system blood oxygen level-dependent signal (n = 7) in the functional magnetic resonance imaging task, in the RYGB group, but not in the control groups. RESULTS: Octreotide suppressed postprandial plasma peptide YY, glucagon-like peptide-1, and fibroblast growth factor-19 after RYGB. The reduction in plasma peptide YY with octreotide positively correlated with the increase in brain reward system blood oxygen level-dependent signal in RYGB/BAND subjects, with a similar trend for glucagon-like peptide-1. CONCLUSIONS: Enhanced satiety gut hormone responses after RYGB may be a causative mechanism by which anatomical alterations of the gut in obesity surgery modify behavioral and brain reward responses to food.

Anti-inflammatory effects of gastric bypass surgery and their association with improvement in metabolic profile.

Obesity is associated with chronic inflammation and metabolic disease. Bariatric surgery offers a treatment that can effectively reduce weight and improve the metabolic function. However, the effect of bariatric surgery on chronic inflammation in obesity is under-investigated. In this expert review, the authors outline the effect of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, the most commonly performed bariatric surgery in current practice, on the markers of inflammation. They include a discussion of the relationship between inflammation and weight loss after surgery, the interaction between these markers and metabolic disease, and the effect on adipose tissue inflammation. They also briefly explore the role of glucagon-like-peptide 1 in remediating inflammation and the changes in gut microbiota after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, and how they may be important in inflammation.

Beyond weight loss: evaluating the multiple benefits of bariatric surgery after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and adjustable gastric band.

BACKGROUND: Despite the evidence for benefits beyond weight loss following bariatric surgery, assessments of surgical outcomes are often limited to changes in weight and remission of type 2 diabetes mellitus. To address this shortfall in assessment, the King's Obesity Staging System was developed. This system evaluates the individual in severity stages of physical, psychological, socio-economic and functional disease. These are categorised into disease domains arranged so as to allow an alphabetic mnemonic as Airways, Body Mass Index (BMI), Cardiovascular, Diabetes, Economic, Functional, Gonadal, Health Status (perceived) and (body) Image. METHODS: In this cohort study, patients were assessed before and 12 months after surgery using the modified King's Obesity Staging Score. We studied 217 consecutive patients undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB; N = 148) and laparoscopic adjustable gastric band (LAGB; N = 69) using the modified King's Obesity Staging System to determine health benefits after bariatric surgery. RESULTS: Preoperatively, the groups had similar BMI, but the RYGB group had worse Airways, Cardiovascular, and Diabetes scores (p < 0.05). After surgery, RYGB and LAGB produced improvements in all scores. In a subgroup paired analysis matched for preoperative Airways, BMI, Cardiovascular, and Diabetes scores, both procedures showed similar improvements in all scores, except for BMI where RYGB had a greater reduction than LAGB (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Both RYGB and LAGB deliver multiple benefits to patients as evaluated by the modified King's Obesity Staging System beyond BMI and glycaemic markers. A validated staging score such as the modified King's Obesity Staging System can be used to quantify these benefits.

Duodenal-jejunal bypass liners: outcomes in glycaemic control and weight loss.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Duodenal-jejunal bypass liners (DJBLs) are a novel therapy with potential treating a range of metabolic diseases. This review discusses the weight loss and glycaemic improvements observed following the use of the DJBL. RECENT FINDINGS: We summarize the evidence for the clinical application of DJBL to date. Within this, we outline the evidence available on the mechanisms of the observed effects. SUMMARY: Based on the most recent trials, we cannot fully mimic the clinical or physiological effects of bariatric surgery with this device, but we are getting closer.

Serial fetal abdominal circumference measurements in predicting normal birth weight in gestational diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVES: To construct a clinical management matrix using serial fetal abdominal circumference measurements (ACMs) that will predict normal birth weight in pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes (GDM) and reduce unnecessary ultrasound examination in women with GDM. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study of 144 women with GDM in a specialist obstetric-diabetes clinic. Women with GDM who delivered singleton infants were identified from a clinical register. Regression analysis was used to identify associations between serial ACMs, maternal parameters and normal birth weight (birth weight between the 10th and 90th percentiles). Predictive clinical models were designed with the aim of identifying normal birth weight infants with the lowest number of fetal ultrasound scans. RESULTS: Compared to mothers of large-for-gestational-age (LGA) infants, mothers of normal weight infants had lower fasting glucose measurements at diagnosis (5.9 mmol/l±1.0 vs. 6.6 mmol/l±0.7, p<0.05), lower maternal weight at delivery (90 kg±17 vs. 96 kg±17, p<0.05), and a lower rate of prior LGA infants (31% vs. 60%, p<0.05). Maternal weight and a history of prior LGA delivery were identified as useful predictors of fetal birth weight in predictive models. Serial ACMs below the 50th, 75th and 90th percentiles could predict normal birth weight with 100%, 97% and 96% positive predictive value respectively when used in these risk factor based models. Two measurements sufficed in low-risk pregnancies. CONCLUSION: Serial ACMs can predict normal birth weight in GDM.