Table 1.

Safety of anti-obesity drugs in clinical studies.

Drug	Country	Participants	Dose	Reported Adverse Effect	References
Common Drugs
For short-term use
Diethylpropion	Brazil	N = 69	50 mg per day for 6 months	Dry mouth and insomnia	[8]
Mazindol	USA	N = 85	1–3 mg per day for 6 weeks.	Dry mouth, nausea, decreased appetite, fatigue, heart rate, and constipation	[9]
Phendimetrazine	USA	N = 13	140–210 mg per day for 7-days	No observable adverse effects	[10]
Phentermine	Korea	N = 74	30 mg per day for 12 weeks	Dry mouth and insomnia	[11]
For long-term use
Orlistat	Japan	N = 100	60 mg three times daily for 24 weeks	Oily spotting and flatus with discharge	[12]
Topiramate ER	Canada, Europe and South Africa	N = 646	192 mg per day for 24 weeks.	Paresthesia and central nervous system-related effects.	[13]
Lorcaserin	USA	N = 604	10 mg per day for 12 months	Headache, nasopharyngitis, nausea, and back pain	[14]
Sibutramine	USA	N = 61	20 mg once daily for 12 weeks	No adverse effect	[15]
Naltrexone/Bupropion ER	USA	N = 1650	Naltrexone 32 mg per day plus bupropion 360 mg per day 56 weeks	Headache, constipation, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, and dry mouth	[16]
GLP-1 receptor agonists
For short-term use
Exenatide	China	N = 681	2 mg per day for 10 weeks	Nausea, dyslipidemia, and vomiting	[17]
Lixisenatide	France	N = 484	20 µg per day for 24 weeks	Acute pancreatitis	[18]
For long-term use
Liraglutide,	Australia, Belgium, the UK, the USA, Russia, Israel, and Germany	-	30 mg per day for 52 weeks	Gastrointestinal symptoms, primarily nausea	[19]
Albiglutide	USA	N = 155	30 mg per week for 52 weeks	Diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting	[20]
Dulaglutide	Not reported	N = 807	1.5 mg or 0.75 mg per day for 52 weeks	Nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting	[21]