THE EFFECT OF ORLISTAT TREATMENT ON LIPID PROFILE IN OBESE PATIENTS

Abstract

Orlistat inhibits gastric and pancreatic lipases in the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract to decrease absorption of dietary fat. Some studies have shown that orlistat can reduce total cholesterol (TC), LDL cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglyceride (TG) levels after long or short-term use, regardless of weight loss.This study aims to investigate the effect of orlistat on lipid profile in obese patients. Thirty patients with the body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more were included. In addition to the low-calorie diet, 120 mg orlistat treatment three times a day was added. Lipid levels and weights were measured at baseline and after 8 weeks. Twenty patients were female and the mean age was 37.7±14.3 years. The mean BMI was 45.3±5.5 at the beginning and 44.4±5.4 (p=0.6) after 2 months. The TC decreased from 217.6±45.3 mg/dl to 196.8±31.4 mg/dl (p=0.1), TG decreased from 190.3±49.8 mg/dl to 155.6±40.3 mg/dl (p=0.045), and the LDL-C decreased from 134.33±38.8 mg/dl to 116.9±29.7 mg/dl (p=0.18). HDL-C level was 50.5±14.6 mg/dl at baseline and 51.2±14.6 mg/dl after 2 months (p=0.8). At the end of the 2-months therapy with orlistat 120 mg three times a day, only a statistically significant decrease was achieved in TG levels. There was no statistically significant change in BMI. Although recently published studies show that orlistat has a lowering effect on TG, TC and LDL-C levels, in our study we only observed a significant decrease in TG levels. The achievement of this result without significant weight loss indicates that this effect may be independent of weight loss. To evaluate the effect of orlistat on the lipid profile, studies involving more patients and investigating its use for a longer time are needed.