Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Book

Orlistat

Agam B. Bansal  1 , Preeti Patel, Yasir Al Khalili  2
In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
.
Affiliations
Free Books & Documents
Book

Orlistat

Agam B. Bansal et al.
Free Books & Documents

Excerpt

Orlistat (tetrahydrolipstatin) is an anti-obesity medication approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This medication is a saturated derivative derived from the endogenous lipstatin found in Streptomyces toxytricini. Orlistat is used to manage obesity by reversibly inhibiting gastric and pancreatic lipases within the gut. These lipases play a crucial role in the digestion of dietary fat by breaking down triglycerides into absorbable free fatty acids and monoglycerides. Orlistat binds covalently to the serine residues of the active sites of these lipases, rendering them inactive. This inactivation of lipase prevents the hydrolysis of triglycerides, thereby impeding the absorption of free fatty acids.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Agam Bansal declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Preeti Patel declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Yasir Al Khalili declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

References

    1. Jain SS, Ramanand SJ, Ramanand JB, Akat PB, Patwardhan MH, Joshi SR. Evaluation of efficacy and safety of orlistat in obese patients. Indian J Endocrinol Metab. 2011 Apr;15(2):99-104. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hollywood A, Ogden J. Taking Orlistat: Predicting Weight Loss over 6 Months. J Obes. 2011;2011:806896. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sjöström L, Rissanen A, Andersen T, Boldrin M, Golay A, Koppeschaar HP, Krempf M. Randomised placebo-controlled trial of orlistat for weight loss and prevention of weight regain in obese patients. European Multicentre Orlistat Study Group. Lancet. 1998 Jul 18;352(9123):167-72. - PubMed
    1. Torgerson JS, Hauptman J, Boldrin MN, Sjöström L. XENical in the prevention of diabetes in obese subjects (XENDOS) study: a randomized study of orlistat as an adjunct to lifestyle changes for the prevention of type 2 diabetes in obese patients. Diabetes Care. 2004 Jan;27(1):155-61. - PubMed
    1. Hampl SE, Hassink SG, Skinner AC, Armstrong SC, Barlow SE, Bolling CF, Avila Edwards KC, Eneli I, Hamre R, Joseph MM, Lunsford D, Mendonca E, Michalsky MP, Mirza N, Ochoa ER, Sharifi M, Staiano AE, Weedn AE, Flinn SK, Lindros J, Okechukwu K. Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Obesity. Pediatrics. 2023 Feb 01;151(2) - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources