[Info-congress. Prevention of type 2 diabetes in obese patients: first results with orlistat in the XENDOS study].

The results of the XENDOS study were presented by Professor Lars Sjöström (Gothenburg, Sweden), on August 26, 2002, at the 9th International Congress on Obesity in Sao Paulo, Brazil. XENDOS (XENical in the prevention of Diabetes in Obese Subjects) is a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group prospective study performed in Sweden over a period of 4 years. The aim of XENDOS was to investigate the use of a weight loss agent (orlistat, Xenical) compared with lifestyle changes for the prevention of type 2 diabetes in obese patients (body mass index > or = 30 kg/m2). Weight loss was greater in the orlistat group (-6.9 kg; n = 1.640) than in the placebo group (-4.1 kg; n = 1.637; p < 0.001). Such a difference in weight reduction was sufficient to significantly reduce the cumulative incidence of type 2 diabetes (6.2% versus 9.0%; p = 0.0032; relative risk reduction of 37.3%). The difference was especially remarkable in obese patients with impaired glucose tolerance (21% of the cohort), with a reduction of conversion to diabetes from 28.8% in the placebo group to 18.8% in the orlistat group (p < 0.005) and a number needed to treat to avoid one event of 11 only. Significant and sustained reductions in cardiovascular risk factors such as arterial blood pressure and lipid levels were also observed in the orlistat group as compared to the placebo group. XENDOS is the first study demonstrating that an antiobesity agent, like orlistat, is able to reduce the progression to diabetes in obese subjects as compared with lifestyle changes alone.