Effect of diacylglycerol on body weight: a meta-analysis

The effects of diacylglycerol (DAG) on body weight are not consistent in clinical trials. This meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of dietary DAG on body weight. Potential articles were initially searched from the electronic databases of Medline, Embase and Cochrane library using the subject keywords as follows: weight, DAG, triacylglycerol (TAG), reduction and obesity. Inclusion criteria required the trial to be randomized placebo controlled with body weight as an endpoint. Two reviewers independently extracted the information and evaluated the methodological quality using the scoring system developed by Jadad. Meta-analysis was performed with the software of Review Manager 4.2. The robustness of overall analysis was tested by sensitivity analysis and publication bias was visually inspected by funnel plot. Five published trials were included in the statistical pool. The meta-analysis indicated a significant difference in body weight reduction between group receiving DAG and group receiving TAG (weighted mean difference -0.75 kg; 95% CI: -1.11 to -0.39; p < 0.0001). Sensitivity analysis corroborated the result of the overall analysis. Linear regression analysis showed that there was significant correlation between daily dose and body weight reduction (p = 0.044, R2 = 0.889). In conclusion, this meta-analysis suggested that DAG was efficacious for reducing body weight compared with TAG and this effect was influenced by the daily dose.