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Researchers investigating treatments for obesity have long suspected that a combination of hormones could be an effective way to target appetite and food consumption, leading to a loss of bodyweight.  Until now, no human studies had been published to establish whether this is the case so we had to rely on animal studies to attempt to demonstrate the hypothesis.  However, a study with humans was recently carried out at Imperial College London and the researchers presented some encouraging findings at the Society for Endocrinology annual conference in Britain.

The two types of hormones that were studied were Glucagon and Glucagon Like Peptide-1 (GLP-1), which act in complementary ways. While glucagon is known to work by preventing storage of glucose in fat deposits and the liver, GLP-1 tends to lower blood sugar by stimulating the release of insulin. Currently, a GLP-1 analogue is prescribed for obese patients in some clinics (including ours), as a mono therapy following encouraging results in a study published in The Lancet.

The Imperial College study that looked into this was a double blind study that included 16 participants. All the participants were given a sequence of treatments, which were determined at random. The four treatments were; glucagon, GLP-1, glucagon and GLP-1 in combination, and saline as a control and the participants received them all via a drip, which lasted two hours. All the participants were offered food 90 minutes after their treatment was initiated, and the researchers monitored their food intake in each session. They also measured their blood sugar levels and energy expenditures. The key findings indicated that participants consumed 13% less calories after being treated with a combination of both of the hormones than they would have had if they had been treated with saline. No appetite reduction was noted with glucagon alone and a more modest reduction was noted with GLP-1 on its own. This led the researchers to conclude that a combination of glucagon and GLP-1 would be the optimal obesity treatment using this process targeting route. However, the researchers also cautioned that further research would be necessary to see how sustainable the weight-loss would be in the long run. We would also wish to see the results at different dosages of the hormones to establish the optimum levels of each.

Despite its small size, it is clear that the study was well thought out and executed to a high standard. This is to be expected of research at this level, particularly as it comes from Imperial College London, a university known for its excellence in research. What surprised us the most were the high results they reported. We would be keen to read the full publication once it is out, in order to consider any weaknesses that would need to be addressed by future research attempting to replicate the findings.

We are glad that research within this field is underway with human subjects, as we feel that it has been long overdue. From our experience with obese patients, we know how frustrating it can be when there are few treatments from which to choose. Although the combination of GLP-1 and glucagon is not available, we do prescribe Victoza, which contains a GLP-1 analogue, and this has proved to be highly successful in getting patients significantly closer to their target weight.

If you wish to have a weight loss consultation then this can be done online with our clinic. We might be prepared to prescribe a GPL-1 treatment if it is warranted and appropriate.