Drug Makes Fat Rats Skinny
Posted on: Thursday, 21 August 2008, 09:20 CDT
Government researchers said Wednesday an epilepsy drug could help fat rats loose weight.
Scientists said the findings show obesity is similar to drug addiction.
After 40 days of injections of the drug vigabatrin or GVG, even rats bred to be obese lost up to 19 percent of their weight, according to the team at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory.
"When we gave GVG, they would steadily lose weight, and when we took them off GVG, they would steadily gain weight," said Amy DeMarco, who worked on the study.
"It was like a roller coaster. It was also dose-dependent. Rats given higher doses would lose more weight." She added that her team saw no side effects in the rats.
Vigabatrin, sold as Sabril in Canada, Mexico and Britain by Sanofi Aventis, is being tested in people now for cocaine and methamphetamine addiction.
Researchers said the drug stops the brain's dopamine reward system, which factors into addiction and overeating.
"For substance abusers, the number one cause of relapse is environmental cues, triggers," said Brookhaven's Dr. Stephen Dewey, who led the research.
"A fairly significant proportion of subjects who are obese suffer from something called binge eating disorders. They binge-eat based on cues. They see a cake, they smell a hamburger and they crave and they start to eat. One of the great things about this drug is it stops this," Dewey added.
"Most drugs of abuse do the same thing to the brain. They increase dopamine. GVG can prevent that increase of dopamine," DeMarco said.
Brookhaven licensed its vigabatrin patents to Coral Gables, Florida-based Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners Inc. The company is testing the drug in phase II human trials for cocaine and methamphetamine addiction.
Catalyst Pharmaceutical wants to test the drug, which it calls CPP-109, for binge eating disorder and alcohol dependence.
Deerfield, Illinois-based Ovation Pharmaceuticals Inc is also testing the drug for use in cocaine and methamphetamine dependence.
Dewey said he has been working with vigabatrin for decades. "It was impossible to get any pharmaceutical company interested in pursuing it for an addiction application," he said.
Britain's Royal College of Ophthalmologists reported in March that the drug can affect sight, reducing peripheral vision and limiting the field of vision in other ways, perhaps irreversibly.
Dewey said these effects were seen with much heavier use of the drug than might be indicated for weight loss.
---
On the Net:
- Brookhaven National Laboratory
- Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners Inc.
- Ovation Pharmaceuticals Inc
- Royal College of Ophthalmologists
Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
Related Articles
- Valeant Pharmaceuticals Acquires Coria Laboratories
- Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners, Inc. Begins Enrollment for U.S. Phase II Clinical Trial of CPP-109 in Patients With Methamphetamine Addiction
- Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and Forest Laboratories Announce Presentation of Linaclotide Phase 2b Chronic Constipation Study Results
- Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners Begins Enrollment for Its U.S. Phase II Clinical Trial of CPP-109 in Patients With Cocaine Addiction
- Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners, Inc. Initiates U.S. Phase II Clinical Trial of CPP-109 in Patients With Cocaine Dependence
- Catalyst Biosciences and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Sign Two Agreements for Novel Biotherapeutic Platform of Engineered Proteases
- Schering-Plough Licenses Worldwide Rights to Pradefovir, Oral Hepatitis B Treatment In Development With Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Metabasis Therapeutics
- M2B World Pte. Ltd. Partners With Intense Animation Studio to Produce First Original 3D Soccer Themed Animation for On-Demand Access; Developed in Singapore for Global Distribution; Project Is Supported By The Media Development Authority of Singapore
- FemmePharma Global Healthcare, Inc. Announces the Divestiture of Its Product for the Treatment of Endometriosis to KV Pharmaceutical Company
- Apnea Treatments Also Benefit Bed Partners
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds