{"doi":"10.1111/dom.14242","title":"Effect of the glucagon‐like peptide‐1 analogue liraglutide versus placebo treatment on circulating proglucagon‐derived peptides that mediate improvements in body weight, insulin secretion and action: A randomized controlled trial","abstract":"AIM: To examine how circulating glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) concentrations during liraglutide treatment relate to its therapeutic actions on glucose and weight, and to study the effects of liraglutide on other proglucagon-derived peptides (PGDPs), including endogenous GLP-1, glucagon-like peptide-2, glucagon, oxyntomodulin, glicentin and major proglucagon fragment, which also regulate metabolic and weight control. MATERIALS AND METHODS: ) with prediabetes were randomized to liraglutide (1.8 mg/day) versus placebo for 14 weeks. We used specific assays to measure exogenous (liraglutide, GLP-1 agonist [GLP-1A]) and endogenous (GLP-1E) GLP-1, alongside five other PGDP concentrations during a mixed meal tolerance test (MMTT) completed at baseline and at week 14 (liraglutide, n = 16; placebo, n = 19). Glucose during MMTT, steady-state plasma glucose (SSPG) concentration for insulin resistance and insulin secretion rate (ISR) were previously measured. MMTT area-under-the-curve (AUC) was calculated for ISR, glucose and levels of PGDPs. RESULTS: Participants on liraglutide versus placebo had significantly (P ≤ .004) decreased weight (mean -3.6%, 95% CI [-5.2% to -2.1%]), SSPG (-32% [-43% to -22%]) and glucose AUC (-7.0% [-11.5% to -2.5%]) and increased ISR AUC (30% [16% to 44%]). GLP-1A AUC at study end was significantly (P ≤ .04) linearly associated with % decrease in weight (r = -0.54) and SSPG (r = -0.59) and increase in ISR AUC (r = 0.51) in the liraglutide group. Treatment with liraglutide significantly (P ≤ .005) increased exogenous GLP-1A AUC (median 310 vs. 262 pg/mL × 8 hours at baseline but decreased endogenous GLP-1E AUC [13.1 vs. 24.2 pmol/L × 8 hours at baseline]), as well as the five other PGDPs. Decreases in the PGDPs processed in the intestines are independent of weight loss, indicating a probable direct effect of GLP-1 receptor agonists to decrease their endogenous production in contrast to weight loss-dependent changes in glucagon and major proglucagon fragment that are processed in pancreatic alpha cells. CONCLUSIONS: Circulating GLP-1A concentrations, reflecting liraglutide levels, predict improvement in weight, insulin action and secretion in a linear manner. Importantly, liraglutide also downregulates other PGDPs, normalization of the levels of which may provide additional metabolic and weight loss benefits in the future.","journal":"Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism","year":2020,"id":103535,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":25,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9579,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2020-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":504420,"name":"Fahim Abbasi","orcid":"0000-0002-3932-8375","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":504421,"name":"Clara Nachmanoff","orcid":"0000-0003-2851-8402","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":300838,"name":"Konstantinos Stefanakis","orcid":"0000-0001-5512-2388","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":284572,"name":"Ajay Kumar","orcid":"0000-0002-5777-3691","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":428814,"name":"Bhanu Kalra","orcid":"0000-0003-3643-8488","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":428815,"name":"Gopal Savjani","orcid":"0000-0001-7048-4854","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":300840,"name":"Christos S. Mantzoros","orcid":"0000-0003-3755-8158","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":460705,"name":"Sun H. Kim","orcid":"0000-0003-0895-7491","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":27,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-18T22:42:48.999009Z","pmid":"33140542","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}