Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide and risk factors include obesity, physical inactivity, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Our aim was to investigate changes in CVD risk factors after an initial weight loss followed by 1 year of treatment with glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist liraglutide and/or exercise.

Method: The trial included 215 individuals with obesity (BMI 36.6 kg/m2, age 42 years). This was a double-blinded trial with an initial 8-week weight loss phase (800 kcal/day) and subsequent randomization (n=195) to placebo, placebo + exercise (150 min/week), liraglutide 3.0 mg/day or liraglutide 3.0 mg/day + exercise (150 min/week) for 1 year. Trial identifier: NCT 04122716

Results: The table shows changes in CVD risk factors after an 8-week weight loss phase followed by 1 year of treatment.

Conclusion: A 13 kg weight loss acutely improved all CVD risk factors. With liraglutide and exercise treatment combined, body weight was further reduced. Fasting glucose and HbA1c were additionally improved with the combined treatments compared to placebo and exercise alone. Interestingly, when exercise was added to liraglutide treatment there was no increase in resting heart rate as opposed to liraglutide treatment alone.

graphic
View largeDownload slide
Disclosure

J.R. Lundgren: None. E. Bladbjerg: None. C. Janus: Research Support; Spouse/Partner; Mercodia, Novo Nordisk A/S. Research Support; Self; Novo Nordisk Foundation. Research Support; Spouse/Partner; Novo Nordisk Foundation. Speaker’s Bureau; Spouse/Partner; Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. L. Gliemann: None. L.M. Olsen: None. C.R. Juhl: None. S.B.K. Jensen: None. R. Thirumathyam: Research Support; Self; Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH. R.M. Christensen: None. A. Andresen: None. B. Stallknecht: None. J.J. Holst: Advisory Panel; Self; AstraZeneca, Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Novo Nordisk A/S, Zealand Pharma A/S. Other Relationship; Spouse/Partner; Antag Therapeutics. J.D. Hove: None. S. Madsbad: Advisory Panel; Self; AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Novo Nordisk A/S, Sanofi-Aventis. Research Support; Self; Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, Novo Nordisk A/S. Speaker’s Bureau; Self; AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, Novo Nordisk A/S. C. Antoniades: Board Member; Self; Caristo Diagnostics. S.S. Torekov: Research Support; Self; Novo Nordisk Inc.

Funding

Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF16OC0019968, NNF15SA0018486); University of Copenhagen; Helsefonden; Danish Diabetes Academy

© 2020 by the American Diabetes Association
2020
Readers may use this article as long as the work is properly cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the work is not altered. More information is available at http://www.diabetesjournals.org/content/license.