Weight Change in Depressed Patients Treated With Desvenlafaxine 50 and 100 mg/d vs Placebo

Objective: To evaluate the effect of desvenlafaxine vs placebo on anthropometric measures in adults with major depressive disorder. Method: Data from desvenlafaxine 50- and 100-mg/d and placebo arms in 8 short-term, double-blind studies were pooled for analysis; 1 long-term withdrawal study was analyzed separately. Effect of treatment on weight was analyzed using analysis of covariance, with treatment, study, and baseline in the model overall, and for 3 baseline body mass index (BMI) subgroups: normal (BMI ≤25 kg/m2), overweight (25 kg/m2 < BMI ≤ 30 kg/m2), obese (BMI >30 kg/m2). Results: The pooled analysis included 3384 patients (normal BMI, n=1122; overweight, n=960; obese, n=1302). The long-term study enrolled 874 patients in a 20-week open-label phase; 548 patients were randomized in the subsequent 6-month, double-blind phase. Short-term, there was a small but significant adjusted mean decrease in weight from baseline with desvenlafaxine 50 mg/d (–0.37 kg) and 100 mg/d (–0.53 kg) compared with placebo (+0.10 kg; both P<0.0001) at week 8. Results were similar in each subgroup (all P≤0.004). In the long-term study, mean weight increased significantly with desvenlafaxine treatment from baseline to open-label week 20 (+0.46 kg; P<0.001). No significant change from double-blind baseline at double-blind week 26 was observed for desvenlafaxine (+0.30 kg) compared with placebo (+0.52 kg) overall, or for BMI subgroups. Conclusions: Desvenlafaxine was associated with a small mean weight loss at 8 weeks; there were no significant between-group differences in the desvenlafaxine- and placebo-treated patients after long-term treatment. Research supported by Pfizer Inc.