Artigos Originais December 01, 2006 December 01, 2006

Tolerability and effectiveness of fluoxetine, metformin and sibutramine in reducing anthropometric and metabolic parameters in obese patients

DOI: 10.1590/S0004-27302006000600007

The aim of this study is to assess the effects of sibutramine (S) 15 mg/day, fluoxetine (F) 60 mg/day, and metformin (M) 1,700 mg/day, as an adjunct therapy to a 1,500 kcal/day diet, in reducing anthropometric and metabolic parameters. S (n= 8), F (n= 9), and M (n= 8) were compared to placebo (n= 10) in 35 obese patients in a 90-day trial. Side effects were also studied during the treatment. The data demonstrated that F therapy resulted in a greater average reduction in BMI (11.0%), weight (10.0%), abdominal circumference (11.0%) and %fatty-tissue (12.8). An elevation in HDL-cholesterol (25.8%) and a reduction in average triglyceride levels (28.3%) were also shown. S presented a 7.91% reduction in the abdominal circumference and a 9.65 reduction in %fatty-tissue was also found. M group presented reductions in BMI (4.03%), waist circumference (6.92%), HOMA (23.5%) and blood pressure (6.08% in systolic and 2.08% in diastolic). In general, the three drugs can be considered well tolerated. We concluded that F and S demonstrated a greater mean reduction in anthropometric and metabolic parameters when compared to M, however all of them are useful for that purpose, when the subjects’ characteristics are considered.