January - March 2012, Volume 8, Issue 1

Uzuki Y, Uetake K, Tajima T

Liraglutide Treatment in a Patient with Diabetes Mellitus in Prader-Willi Syndrome

Acta Endo (Buc) 2012, 8 (1): 107-112
doi: 10.4183/aeb.2012.107

Introduction. Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is one of the most common known genetic causes of morbidly obese, resulting in\r\ndiabetes mellitus (DM) and the management of DM in PWS is difficult. Recently, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists have been introduced for the treatment of type 2 DM. Here, we report the use of liraglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, in a patient with DM in PWS.\r\nCase report. A Japanese male patient was diagnosed as having PWS at the age of 1 year. He was mentally retarted and developed morbid obesity. When he was 18 years old, his\r\nweight was 79 kg and height was 152 cm (BMI 34.1 kg/m2). His HbA1c level was 6.2 % and thus DM was diagnosed. Despite\r\nseveral medications, the control of DM worsened and thus at the age of 22 years his body weight and HbA1c further increased (83 kg and 10.8%, respectively). At this time,\r\nliraglutide was initiated. His weight and BMI did not change, however his HbA1c level decreased to 7.4 % after one year treatment. He did not have any side effects of liraglutide. This case indicates that GLP-1 receptor\r\nagonists may be useful for the treatment of DM with PWS.

Keywords: Prader-Willi syndrome, diabetes mellitus, glucagon-like-peptide 1 (GLP-1).

Correspondence: Toshihiro Tajima M.D., Ph.D, Department of Pediatrics, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, N15, W7, Sapporo, Japan, 060-8638, Tel: +81-11-706-5954, Fax: +81-11-706-7898, E-mail: tajeari@med.hokudai.ac.jp