Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 May 9.
doi: 10.1038/s41366-024-01526-2. Online ahead of print.

Effect of combined GLP-1 analogue and bupropion/naltrexone on weight loss: a retrospective cohort study

James Naude  1 , Ali Zentner  2 , Priya Suresh  1 , Jesse Bittman  2 , Nadia A Khan  3   4
Affiliations

Effect of combined GLP-1 analogue and bupropion/naltrexone on weight loss: a retrospective cohort study

James Naude et al. Int J Obes (Lond). .

Abstract

Objective: Little is known about the effect of a multi-drug weight loss strategy in obesity treatment, particularly combining bupropion/naltrexone and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) analogue. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if there are any additive effects of prescribing bupropion/naltrexone on top of GLP-1 analogue as weight loss therapy.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of adult patients with a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2 prescribed GLP-1 analogue therapy at an obesity specialist clinic in Vancouver, Canada. We compared a 6 and 12-month change in total body weight loss (TBWL) for those receiving monotherapy from the initiation of GLP-1 analogue therapy with those receiving combination therapy from the initiation of bupropion/naltrexone added-on therapy. Patients prescribed combination therapy were stratified into responder (loss of ≥ 5% TBWL) and non-responder (TBWL < 5%) subgroups based on initial response to the GLP-1 analogue alone for any amount of time.

Results: The mean weight loss among patients prescribed GLP-1 analogue monotherapy at 12 months was 11.42 kg, SD 9.95 (9.6% TBWL). There was no significant difference between these two treatment strategies overall (HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.68 to 1.14, p = 0.35). However, when stratified by response to initial GLP analogue therapy, the addition of bupropion/naltrexone was associated with a statistically significant reduction in weight in both the responder (4.3% TBWL (p < 0.01)) and non-responder groups (4.0% TBWL (p < 0.01)).

Conclusions: GLP-1 analogues are an effective treatment for weight loss, and the addition of bupropion/naltrexone is associated with greater weight loss including in patients who are initially non-responsive to GLP-1 analogues.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Bancej C, Jayabalasingham B, Wall RW, Rao DP, Do MT, de Groh M, et al. Evidence brief-trends and projections of obesity among Canadians. Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can. 2015;35:109–12. https://doi.org/10.24095/hpcdp.35.7.02 . - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Apovian CM. Obesity: definition, comorbidities, causes, and burden. Am J Manag Care. 2016;22:s176–85. - PubMed
    1. King LK, March L, Anandacoomarasamy A. Obesity & osteoarthritis. Indian J Med Res. 2013;138:185–93. - PubMed - PMC
    1. Abdelaal M, le Roux CW, Docherty NG. Morbidity and mortality associated with obesity. Ann Transl Med. 2017;5:161. https://doi.org/10.21037/atm.2017.03.107 . - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Shi Q, Wang Y, Hao Q, Vandvik PO, Guyatt G, Li J, et al. Pharmacotherapy for adults with overweight and obesity: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Lancet. 2022;399:259–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01640-8 . - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources