Table 1 summarizes recent pharmacological agents used for obesity treatment.10–12 The National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute guidelines on the assessment and treatment of obesity recommend that pharmacotherapy for obesity be considered for those patients with a BMI ≥30 kg/m2 or ≥27 kg/m2 with at least 1 serious comorbidity. All pharmacotherapeutic options for obesity should be adjuncts to dietary and physical activity recommendations.13 Newer medical approaches to obesity management may include the addition of incretin hormones, the blood levels of which are altered after gastric bypass surgery. GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide 1) agonists such as exenatide and liraglutide have been shown to promote weight loss in both diabetic and nondiabetic patients. Other experimental approaches include combinations of injectable agents plus leptin, a hormone secreted by adipose tissue that signals satiety in the hypothalamus. These approaches are considered an off-label use of approved agents in the case of GLP-1 agonists and experimental in the case of leptin in combination with other agents. Table 2 summarizes the recent activity of newer pharmaceutical obesity agents in the FDA approval process.14
