WHAT started as a study of dope-induced 鈥渕unchies鈥� has ended with what is being claimed as a wonder-drug that may help people lose weight and quit smoking.
Researchers at Sanofi-Synthelabo in Paris developed the drug, called rimonabant, after noticing that smoking cannabis tends to make people hungry. Rimonabant blocks a cannabinoid receptor in the brain and gut called CB1, and appears to reduce both appetite and the craving for nicotine.
Results from two separate trials were announced last week. Obese people on a diet given 20 milligrams of the drug daily lost 8.6 kilograms in a year 鈥� three times as much as those given a placebo. The head of the trial team, Jean-Pierre Despres of Laval University in Quebec City, Canada, says that blood levels of 鈥済ood鈥� cholesterol also rose in the recipients, and their waistlines shrank by 9 centimetres. A separate study found that the drug doubled the chances of quitting smoking.
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鈥淭here鈥檚 no doubt we are getting closer to a drug that controls weight,鈥� says Steven Bloom, who is developing a drug based on the body鈥檚 natural appetite suppressant called PYY3-36 (New 杏吧原创, 9 August 2003, p 38). Bloom鈥檚 only concern is that rimonabant might suppress other desires, such as the will to work hard, but Sanofi says no adverse psychological effects have been seen. The drug could be available by the end of 2005.