Research
Hormonal
Both orlistat and metformin produce comparable improvements in insulin sensitivity (ISI Matsuda) and post-load insulin levels in obese premenopausal women.
If your primary goal is improving insulin sensitivity, both orlistat and metformin are equally effective options over a 3-month period. The choice should be based on other factors like side effect tolerance or weight loss goals.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Improvement in ISI Matsuda and post-load insulin were similar in both groups.
Why this rating
RCT, open-label, short duration.
Source
The effect of orlistat versus metformin on body composition and insulin resistance in obese premenopausal women: 3-month randomized prospective open-label study
Magdalena Kujawska-Łuczak et al. · Archives of Medical Science · 2016
DOI 10.5114/aoms.2016.62014
rct · n=73Cited 20×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Orlistat (360 mg/day) produces significantly greater total body weight loss and fat mass reduction than metformin (1000 mg/day) in obese premenopausal women over 3 months.Good
- Metformin (1000 mg/day) produces a greater reduction in android fat mass (kg) compared to orlistat in obese premenopausal women, despite less total weight loss.Good
Related findings · Hormonal
- Initial treatment for type 2 diabetes should be a combination of metformin and either an SGLT-2 inhibitor or a GLP-1 receptor agonist to achieve cardiorenal protection, rather than monotherapy or older agents like sulfonylureas.Strong
- For patients with specific monogenic obesity syndromes (leptin deficiency, POMC/PCSK1/LEPR mutations), targeted pharmacotherapy (recombinant leptin or setmelanotide) is highly effective and should be prioritized, unlike in polygenic obesity.Strong
- Continued weekly administration of 2.4 mg subcutaneous semaglutide prevents weight regain and promotes further weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity, whereas switching to placebo results in significant weight regain.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →