Danish Trial of Weight Loss to Reduce Atrial Fibrillation Progression

NCT07816744 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: S-20260028
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 480
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

Obesity is an important risk factor for the development and progression of atrial fibrillation. Sustainable weight loss likely reduces the burden of atrial fibrillation, which has yet to be proven in adequately sized randomised trials. In a national, multicentre randomised trial we will test, whether a sustainable weight loss of more than 10% reduces atrial fibrillation progression and burden in patients with symptomatic paroxysmal or early persistent atrial fibrillation and a body mass index ≥27 kg/m2. A total of 480 patients will be randomised in a 1:1 fashion to either a comprehensive weight loss programme of behavioural support, meal replacement and/or pharmacotherapy with a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist on top of standard care aiming at more than 10% weight loss or standard care alone. Standard care will include guideline-directed anticoagulant therapy for stroke prevention, rate and/or rhythm control treatment, and management of risk factors and underlying cardiovascular conditions. Patients in the standard care group will receive information on weight management, but no active treatment for weight loss. Patients will be enrolled during a period of two and a half years and will be followed for one year with an equal number of study visits in both study arms. All patients will receive a 14-day continuous electrocardiographic monitoring at baseline, four, eight, and 12 months. The study endpoints will be assessed after a 4-months blanking period from month four to 12 to allow for weight loss. The primary endpoint will be a hierarchical composite of atrial fibrillation progression, symptom burden, and treatment escalation. Secondary endpoints will be a change in weight, total atrial fibrillation burden, quality of life, and metabolic and cardiovascular biomarkers from baseline to 12 months. Safety endpoints will be adverse events related to treatment with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists and weight loss. Endpoint adjudication will be blinded.

Conditions

Obesity & Overweight; Atrial Fibrillation (AF)

Keywords

Atrial fibrillation; Overweight; Obesity; Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist; Atrial fibrillation burden

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Hierarchical composite outcome capturing AF progression and AF burden, inte-grating clinical events assessed by blinded adjudication and objective measures of AF burden, assessed by 14-day continuous ECG monitoring

  The hierarchical components of the primary outcome are: 1. Unplanned contact to a cardiology department or emergency department visit with a primary diagnosis of AF 2. Unplanned hospital visit for heart failure 3. High AF burden defined as: AF burden ≥10% (i.e., ≥33.8 hours of cumulative AF) during any of the 14-day ECG monitoring periods at 4, 8, or 12 months 4. Moderate AF burden defined as: AF burden ≥5% (i.e., ≥16.8 hours of cumulative AF) during any of the 14-day ECG monitoring periods at 4, 8, or 12 months 5. Planned cardioversion (electrical or pharmacological), including pill-in-the-pocket therapy using Class Ic antiarrhythmic agents (e.g. flecainide)

  From 4 months to 12 months after enrollment

Study Arms (2)

Intervention

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Structured weight loss program including behavioral support and optional meal re-placement or pharmacotherapy with Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RA), aiming for \>10% weight loss on top of standard care.

Other: Structured weight loss program including behavioral support and optional meal re-placement or pharmacotherapy with Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RA)

Control

OTHER

Standard care, including cardiovascular risk factor management, with visit frequency and follow-up similar to the intervention group.

Other: Standard Care (in control arm)

Interventions

Structured weight loss program including behavioral support and optional meal re-placement or pharmacotherapy with Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RA) OTHER

Weight loss period (0-16 weeks): Behavioural support (first step): Dietician-guided lifestyle vhanges through virtual meeting, frequency by patient's choice; energy intake 1500 kcal/day; \<30% carbohydrates, \>=60 g protein/day, adeqaute fiber, 2-2.5 L/day non-caloric fluids. Escalation strategy (second step): Meal replacement: available free of charge Pharmacotherapy: Semaglutide once weekly subcutaneous injection Target weight loss \>10%; aiming for a 1% weight loss per week during the weight loss period. Weight loss maintenance period (17-52 weeks): Maintenance of \>10% weigth loss Further lifestyle changes, meal replacement, or dose adjustment of weight loss medication

Intervention

Standard Care (in control arm) OTHER

Guideline-directed cardiovascular risk factor management, including medical treatment and lifestyle counseling.

Control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Symptomatic paroxysmal\* or persistent\*\* AF
• BMI ≥27 kg/m2
• Age\>18 years
• \* Paroxysmal AF in this trial is defined as at least 2 episodes, either self-terminating or cardioverted within 7 days, during 6 months prior to in-clusion
• \*\*Persistent AF in this study is defined as the following:
• Duration of an AF episode \>7 days and \< 6 months
• Total documented AF history \< 5 years

You may not qualify if:

• Atrial flutter as the primary arrhythmia. (Patients with previous or isolated episodes of atrial flutter may be included, provided that AF is the dominant arrhythmia and the primary target of clinical management)
• Implanted electronic device (pacemaker/ICD/ICM)
• Type 1 diabetes or Type 2 diabetes on insulin treatment
• Severe heart failure (LVEF \<40%)
• Inability to sign informed consent
• Severe kidney disease (eGFR\<30)
• History of catheter ablation for AF
• Scheduled to receive catheter ablation for AF during the study period (next 1 year)
• Incretin-based therapy (GLP-1 receptor agonists or DPP-IV inhibitors) within 30 days prior to randomization (visit 1)
• Scheduled for bariatric surgery during the study period
• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, ARVC/D, non-compaction or amyloidosis
• Chronic or previous acute pancreatitis
• Current participation in any other clinical intervention trial that may result in changes to med-ical management during the study period
• Women of childbearing potential who are not on an acceptable form of contraception
• Pregnant or breastfeeding women

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Rigshospitalet, Denmark: collaborator
• Viborg Regional Hospital: collaborator
• Holbaek Hospital: collaborator
• Axel Brandes: lead
• University Hospital Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg: collaborator
• Regionshospital Nordjylland: collaborator
• Aarhus University Hospital: collaborator

Study Sites (2)

University Hospital Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg

Copenhagen, Denmark

Location

Esbjerg Hospital - University Hospital of Southern Denmark

Esbjerg, 6700, Denmark

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Atrial Fibrillation; Obesity; Overweight

Interventions

Drug Therapy; Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists; Standard of Care

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Arrhythmias, Cardiac; Heart Diseases; Cardiovascular Diseases; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Overnutrition; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Body Weight; Signs and Symptoms

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Therapeutics; Hypoglycemic Agents; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Pharmacologic Actions; Chemical Actions and Uses; Quality Indicators, Health Care; Quality of Health Care; Health Services Administration; Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation

Study Officials

• Axel Brandes, M.D.

  Esbjerg Hospital - University Hospital of Southern Denmark

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Eva Prescott, PhD

  University Hospital Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Axel Brandes, M.D.

CONTACT

+4579184491; Axel.Brandes@rsyd.dk

Eva Prescott, PhD

CONTACT

eva.irene.bossano.prescott@regionh.dk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor, M.D.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 8, 2026
• First Posted: September 14, 2026
• Study Start: October 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): April 1, 2030
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2030
• Last Updated: September 14, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-09

Locations

DK (2)