Effects of various weight-reducing drugs on eating behavior

Introduction. Eating disorders (ED) in obese patients dramatically reduce adherence to treatment and its effectiveness, which determines the importance of correcting ED.  

Aim. To evaluate the presence of various types of eating behavior (EB) in obese patients, the effect of sibutramine and liraglutide on EB, hunger and satiety to optimize individual treatment choice.  

Materials and methods. The study included 53 obese patients (BMI over 30 kg/m2), of whom 17 received liraglutide (3.0 mg/ day) and 36 – sibutramine (10 mg/day). The type of EB was determined using the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire (DEBQ). The survey was conducted before and after 6 months of continuous treatment. The VAS scale was used to assess appetite. 

Results. The decrease in body weight, BMI, waist and hip circumference was statistically significant and comparable in the liraglutide and sibutramine groups (p < 0.001 for all parameters in both groups). Sibutramine showed a decrease in emotional eating behavior (EmEB) (p = 0.003), and liraglutide had no effect on EmEB. Treatment with sibutramine increased the severity of restrained eating behavior (REB) (p = 0.002); in the treatment group with liraglutide, there was only a tendency to decrease the score on the REB scale (p = 0.109). Liraglutide and sibutramine did not lead to statistically significant changes in external eating behavior (ExEB). Therapy with both sibutramine and liraglutide equally led to a significant reduction in hunger and the amount of food eaten.  

Conclusions. Liraglutide and sibutramine had a similar weight reduction effect, but they have different effects on EB indicators. Patients with EmEB may benefit more from sibutramine than from liraglutide. The more pronounced the violation of EB is in the patient, the more difficult it is to correlate. Questionnaires, for example DEBQ, can be used for an individual choice of treatment method. 

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