Objectives: Evidence regarding the association between diet-induced weight loss (WL) and appetite-related markers remains controversial. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to conduct a critical appraisal of the effect of diet-induced WL, outside of ketosis, on appetite markers.
Methods: Systematic searches were performed for randomized and non-randomized controlled trials that employed non-ketogenic dietary interventions (outside of ketosis) on adults (>18 years, BMI≥ 25/m2) using energy restriction that yielded a WL ≥2 kg over <7 days. Studies needed to use a within-subject repeated measures design and provide outcomes of appetite-related hormones (ghrelin, glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) , peptide YY (PYY), and cholecystokinin) and/or appetite feelings (hunger, desire to eat, prospective food consumption, satiety, and fullness) that were assessed pre-and-post WL. Study searches were adapted to satisfy each database.
Results: 6,553 articles were retrieved from databases PubMed, (Pre)Medline, EMBASE, SCOPUS, Central (COCHRANE) and Epistemonikos. 51 articles (87 comparison arms) were included in the meta-analysis and 18 were reviewed qualitatively. The meta-analysis compared standardized mean differences in appetite markers taken pre-and-post WL. Studies yielded an average WL of 6.9±3.9 kg. For appetite-related hormones: there were trends toward increases in basal total and active ghrelin, postprandial active ghrelin, and decreases in basal active GLP-1, basal PYY, basal and postprandial CCK concentrations. For appetite-related feelings, there were trends toward increases in hunger, desire to eat and prospective food consumption measured in fasting, and fullness and satiety measured after a meal. No significant changes were found for all other appetite-related hormones and their fractions. Large methodological and statistical heterogeneity was found among the studies.
Conclusion: Studies showed trends towards increases in hunger, DTE and ghrelin and decreased concentrations of satiety hormones following WL. More comprehensive studies are warranted to confirm these findings due the variety of dietary intervention employed and limited number of studies measuring hormonal fractions.