Safety and Efficacy of Xenical in Children and Adolescents With Obesity-Related Diseases

Summary

Obesity is a condition affecting one-third off the U.S. population and is a major risk actor for the development of Type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia (increased levels of fat in the blood), hypertension (high blood pressure), and other disorders of the heart and lungs. Individuals with the onset of obesity during childhood or adolescence are at an increased risk of obesity-related, diseases, both during adolescence and later in adult life. African American girls and women are at an increased risk for obesity, and have substantial rates of obesity-related diseases and causes of death. Further, many African American adult women fail to respond to many of the therapeutic approaches used to treat obesity. At present there are no medical therapies proven effective for the correction of severe obesity in children or adolescents. One medication that may have a favorable risk-benefit ratio in pediatric populations is Orlistat (Xenical, Hoffmann LaRoche). Orlistat works by preventing the action of enzymes in the digestive process, interfering with the absorption of approximately 1/3 of the fat eaten in the diet. Xenical appears to be effective for reducing weight and obesity-associated diseases in obese adults. Researchers propose to determine the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of Xenical in 12-17 year old severely obese African American and Caucasian children and adolescents who have one or more obesity-related disease (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, sleep apnea, hepatic steatosis, insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance, or Type 2 diabetes).

Timeline

Start

1998-05

Primary completion

2011-10

Completion

2011-10

Publications

• Background Kuczmarski RJ, Flegal KM, Campbell SM, Johnson CL. Increasing prevalence of overweight among US adults. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, 1960 to 1991. JAMA. 1994 Jul 20;272(3):205-11. doi: 10.1001/jama.272.3.205.
• Background Drent ML, Larsson I, William-Olsson T, Quaade F, Czubayko F, von Bergmann K, Strobel W, Sjostrom L, van der Veen EA. Orlistat (Ro 18-0647), a lipase inhibitor, in the treatment of human obesity: a multiple dose study. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1995 Apr;19(4):221-6.
• Background Must A, Jacques PF, Dallal GE, Bajema CJ, Dietz WH. Long-term morbidity and mortality of overweight adolescents. A follow-up of the Harvard Growth Study of 1922 to 1935. N Engl J Med. 1992 Nov 5;327(19):1350-5. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199211053271904.
• Background Chanoine JP, Hampl S, Jensen C, Boldrin M, Hauptman J. Effect of orlistat on weight and body composition in obese adolescents: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2005 Jun 15;293(23):2873-83. doi: 10.1001/jama.293.23.2873.
• Results McDuffie JR, Calis KA, Uwaifo GI, Sebring NG, Fallon EM, Frazer TE, Van Hubbard S, Yanovski JA. Efficacy of orlistat as an adjunct to behavioral treatment in overweight African American and Caucasian adolescents with obesity-related co-morbid conditions. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2004 Mar;17(3):307-19. doi: 10.1515/jpem.2004.17.3.307.
• Results McDuffie JR, Calis KA, Booth SL, Uwaifo GI, Yanovski JA. Effects of orlistat on fat-soluble vitamins in obese adolescents. Pharmacotherapy. 2002 Jul;22(7):814-22. doi: 10.1592/phco.22.11.814.33627.
• Results McDuffie JR, Calis KA, Uwaifo GI, Sebring NG, Fallon EM, Hubbard VS, Yanovski JA. Three-month tolerability of orlistat in adolescents with obesity-related comorbid conditions. Obes Res. 2002 Jul;10(7):642-50. doi: 10.1038/oby.2002.87.
• Omotosho YB, Reynolds JC, Yanovski JA, Tatsi C. Body Composition and Fat Deposition in Children with Cushing Disease and Associations with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors. J Pediatr. 2026 Mar;290:114933. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2025.114933. Epub 2025 Dec 3.
• Schvey NA, Shank LM, Tanofsky-Kraff M, Ramirez S, Altman DR, Swanson T, Rubin AG, Kelly NR, LeMay-Russell S, Byrne ME, Parker MN, Broadney MM, Brady SM, Yanovski SZ, Yanovski JA. Weight-based teasing in youth: Associations with metabolic and inflammatory markers. Pediatr Obes. 2021 Mar;16(3):e12729. doi: 10.1111/ijpo.12729. Epub 2020 Oct 15.
• Han JC, Reyes-Capo DP, Liu CY, Reynolds JC, Turkbey E, Turkbey IB, Bryant J, Marshall JD, Naggert JK, Gahl WA, Yanovski JA, Gunay-Aygun M. Comprehensive Endocrine-Metabolic Evaluation of Patients With Alstrom Syndrome Compared With BMI-Matched Controls. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2018 Jul 1;103(7):2707-2719. doi: 10.1210/jc.2018-00496.
• Radin RM, Tanofsky-Kraff M, Shomaker LB, Kelly NR, Pickworth CK, Shank LM, Altschul AM, Brady SM, Demidowich AP, Yanovski SZ, Hubbard VS, Yanovski JA. Metabolic characteristics of youth with loss of control eating. Eat Behav. 2015 Dec;19:86-9. doi: 10.1016/j.eatbeh.2015.07.002. Epub 2015 Jul 18.

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