Chitosan as a treatment for body weight reduction? A meta-analysis

Chitosan is a food supplement derived from the cuticle of crustacea, It is promoted as a slimming aid and available as an over-the-counter remedy thro ughout the United Kingdom and many other countries. This systematic review and meta-analysis summarises the published evidence for or against its effe ctiveness for the treatment of obesity. A comprehensive search strategy was designed to identify all randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind tria ls on the subject. Five trials met all inclusion criteria, All studies orig inate front Italy and were published in the same Italian journal, over a 2- year time period. These studies administered chitosan or placebo in additio n to a hypocaloric diet and suggest that, in such circumstances, the medica tion with chitosan results in a significantly greater weight loss compared with placebo. The meta-analysis implies that the mean difference in terms o f weight reduction between chitosan and placebo is 3.28 kg. However, severa l concerns are raised and the results have to be viewed with caution. It is concluded that the clinical effectiveness of chitosan as a means of weight reduction needs to be confirmed by independent rigorous trials.