Abstract:
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.
