The latest findings come as Diabetes UK warns that seven million people in the UK could be suffering from prediabetes.
The charity has developed a position statement calling for guidance to help diagnose and manage prediabetes.
The Danish study involved 564 patients, aged 18 to 65, with a BMI of 30 to 40. They received 1.2mg, 1.8mg, 2.4mg or 3.0mg of liraglutide or placebo once daily, or 120mg of orlistat three times a day orally.
All patients were asked to follow a calorie-restricted diet during the 20-week study, and to increase physical activity.
Levels of weight loss increased the higher the dose of liraglutide, with the 3.0mg dose causing a mean weight loss of 7.2kg. This compared with a weight loss of 4.1kg with orlistat and 2.8kg with placebo.
Prevalence of prediabetes also fell between 84 and 96 per cent with liraglutide treatment.
