Efficacy and safety of lorcaserin in obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background: Lorcaserin is a novel, selective 5-hydroxytryptamine 2C serotonin receptor agonist, approved for the treatment of obesity. Several phase 3 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) trials have shown a significant reduction in body weight with lorcaserin.

Research design and methods: We systematically searched the database of PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library and ClinicalTrials.gov up to 31 July 2019 and retrieved all the studies conducted with lorcaserin for ≥1 year that have explicitly reported the efficacy and safety outcomes versus placebo. Subsequently, we studied the effect of lorcaserin on weight reduction, FDA-defined valvulopathy, depression and suicidal risks in RCTs.

Results: The meta-analysis of four RCTs (N = 16,856) demonstrated a significant decrease in body weight (mean ∆ −3.076 Kg; 95% CI, −3.49 to −2.66; P < 0.00001), compared to placebo. No significant difference in FDA-defined valvulopathy (RR 1.20; 95% CI, 0.89 to 1.63; P = 0.24), depression (RR 1.07; 95% CI, 0.80 to 1.43; P = 0.67) or suicidal risk (RR 1.43; 95% CI, 0.96 to 2.15; P = 0.08) has been observed with lorcaserin compared to placebo.

Conclusions: Lorcaserin reduces body weight modestly, with no obvious serious adverse side effects. The common adverse events noted with lorcaserin include nausea, dizziness, and transient headache.