Metabolic On-Demand Webinar
Changes and Challenges in Body Composition On-Demand Webinar
In this webinar, the speakers review recent clinical trial data that represent the current state of scientific knowledge and evaluate the impact of the data on loss of muscle mass following GLP-1 receptor agonist-based therapies and the need for accurate and tailored assessments of BC in clinical trials.
Speakers:
- Graham Ellis, M.D., executive director, medical science and strategy, PPD™ clinical research business of Thermo Fisher Scientific
- Nathan Ming-Yu Liu, M.D., MTM, associate medical director, pharmacovigilance, PPD clinical research business of Thermo Fisher Scientific
- Donna H. Ryan, M.D., professor emerita, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Recent trials of GLP-1 receptor agonist-based therapies using weight loss primary endpoints have shown remarkable efficacy that approaches that of bariatric surgery (~20–25% compared to 25–30% with bariatric surgery).
Although changes in fat distribution from GLP-1 receptor agonist-based therapies are key to understanding many of the health outcome benefits, the impact of skeletal muscle loss on long-term health outcomes remains to be clarified. While skeletal muscle loss is not specific to GLP-1 receptor agonist-based therapies, the degree of weight loss compared to other anti-obesity medications (AOMs) has exposed the limitations of using weight change as a primary endpoint in clinical trials and has highlighted the need for including accurate measurements of changes in muscle mass and function in AOM clinical trials.
The evolving requirement for accurate assessment of body composition (BC) in clinical trials is further driven by:
- The variability of changes in fat loss and BC changes to different GLP-1 receptor agonist-based therapies
- The variable changes in BC of diverse ethnic and racial populations in response to GLP-1 receptor agonist-based therapies
- The expansion of treatment populations by GLP-1 receptor agonist-based therapies to include adolescents with obesity
- The development of new therapies aimed at preserving muscle mass and function
- Understanding changes in regional adiposity, such as pathogenic visceral adipose tissue, liver adipose tissue and epicardial adipose tissue
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