GLPwatch

The Effect of Liraglutide on Pancreatic Hormones and Its Size

NCT03520062 · Completed

Last updated 2026-05-28

This clinical trial tests whether the medication liraglutide affects the size of the pancreas in adults with obesity.

Status Completed The study has finished.
Phase Not applicable Not a phased drug trial (e.g. a device or behavioral study).
Type Interventional (clinical trial)
Design open-label (no blinding) basic-science study
Participants 14 people
Who can join Ages 18–65 · male only Healthy volunteers accepted.
Timeline Started 2017-08 · est. completion 2020-01
Where 1 site · Denmark

What this study is testing ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03520062 ↗

Description as written by the study sponsor.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a gastrointestinal hormone used to treat type 2 diabetes and severe overweight (Liraglutide).The two pancreas enzymes: amylase and lipase are slightly elevated in GLP-1 treated compared with placebo-treated individuals. Increased levels of these two enzymes (amylase and lipase) are associated with acute inflammation of the pancreas (acute pancreatitis). In humans treated with GLP-1 (receptor agonist) there have not been found an increased risk of acute pancreatitis. Animal and cell studies have shown that the increased levels of amylase and lipase in the blood are not due to an inflammatory state but adaptive changes (volume increase) of the pancreas. The investigators (professor Jens Juul Holst, professor Sten Madsbad) want to investigate whether the increased levels of amylase and lipase in the blood of individuals treated with the GLP-1 analogue Saxenda are due adaptive changes of the pancreas. This will be achieved by measuring amylase and lipase before, during and after treatment with a GLP-1 receptor agonist, and at the same time use advanced scanning equipment (PET-MR) from the Clinical Physiological and Nuclear Medical Department at Rigshospitalet, which can determine any volumetric changes in the pancreas with high reproducibility. The scan will be centered on the pancreas, other organs are not evaluated why the study is not designed to detect any malignant findings in the pancreas or other organs.

Treatments tested

Main thing measuredVolumetric Changes of the Pancreas
SponsorNicolai Jacob Wewer Albrechtsen
Conditions studiedObesity
GLP-1 drugs liraglutide

Full protocol, eligibility, and contacts on ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03520062 ↗