Brain Activation in Response to Low-Calorie Food Pictures: An Explorative Analysis of a Randomized Trial With Dapagliflozin and Exenatide

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at Exenatide.

Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) induce less weight loss than expected.

This hyperphagia may be specific to high-calorie foods.

To optimize treatment, the researchers need a better understanding of how intake is controlled, and how [(un)healthy] food choices are made.

Who Took Part

Sixty-eight subjects with obesity and type 2 diabetes were randomized to dapagliflozin, exenatide, dapagliflozin plus exenatide, or double placebo.

Using functional MRI, the effects of treatments on brain responses to low-calorie food pictures were assessed after 10 days and 16 weeks.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled.

Because people in this Exenatide study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

As a double-blind Exenatide study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

Some participants received a placebo instead of Exenatide, giving a reference point.

The timeline in the abstract includes 10 days.

The researchers performed an exploratory analysis of a larger, 16-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Benzhydryl Compounds, Brain, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Exenatide, Glucosides, Hypoglycemic Agents and Sodium-Glucose Transporter 2 Inhibitors.

Author keywords: GLP-1 receptor agonist, SGLT2 inhibitor, central regulation of food intake, dapagliflozin, functional neuroimaging and low-calorie.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Exenatide over 10 days.

Results are reported in around 6 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2022 (Frontiers in endocrinology), a journal based in Switzerland.

More context: the Exenatide compound page, all human trials.