Introduction: The prevalence of
obesity is increasing worldwide and associated conditions, particularly
type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), also show increasing prevalence. Lifestyle intervention should be the first line of management for
obesity but additional
pharmacotherapy is often required and
bariatric surgery is appropriate in more severe cases. Drugs acting as
glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs) developed for the management of T2DM reduce
body weight and
liraglutide is the first GLP-1RA to be approved for the treatment of
obesity in patients with and without T2DM.Areas covered: In this review of relevant published material, the authors summarize the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, clinical efficacy and safety of
liraglutide for the treatment of
obesity.Expert opinion:
Liraglutide effectively reduces
body weight and body fat through mechanisms involving reduced appetite and lowered energy intake, independent of its
glucose-lowering effects. Like most of the other medications currently available for
obesity,
liraglutide has some common adverse effects, although generally not serious ones.
Liraglutide has additional benefits in reducing cardiovascular events in patients with T2DM but the cost and the need for daily
injections may limit its use in
obesity. Newer GLP-1RAs, such as
semaglutide, or other drugs in development for
obesity may have advantages over
liraglutide.