Zonisamide in the Treatment of Obesity: A Meta-Analysis

Incidence of obesity continues to rise worldwide with each year especially in developed countries. On the other hand success achieved with pharmacotherapy of obesity is disappointing, with some of the unmet needs in management strategies for obesity. Zonisamide an anti-epileptic drug has been found to have significant weight reduction properties with favorable safety profile. Present meta-analysis has been done with the aim of analyzing the efficacy of zonisamide in obesity. Electronic data bases were searched for all types of studies related to use of zonisamide in obesity and binge eating disorder. Change in body weight following treatment with zonisamide was the primary outcome measure analyzed. Both fixed and random effect models were used for statistical analysis of the data. With total 111 patients analyzed from 3 eligible studies; a significant reduction in weight from baseline by 5.88 kg (MD: -5.88; 95% CI:-7.51 to -4.25) at 16 weeks could be expected by treatment with zonisamide. As the data on safety profile of zonisamide especially long term was either incomplete or not available, analysis of safety profile was not carried out. Future studies analyzing the efficacy and long term safety of zonisamide on large population and for long term are preferred.