Anti-obesity effects of the combined administration of CB1 receptor antagonist rimonabant and melanin-concentrating hormone antagonist SNAP-94847 in diet-induced obese mice.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

Current anti-obesity monotherapies have proven only marginally effective and are often accompanied by adverse side effects. The cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptor antagonist rimonabant, while effective at producing weight loss, has been discontinued from clinical use owing to increased incidence of depression. This study investigates the interaction between the cannabinoid and melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) systems in food intake, body weight control, and mood.

DESIGN:

Lean male C57BL/6 mice were injected i.p. with rimonabant (0.0, 0.03, 0.3 and 3.0 mg kg(-1)) or the MCH1-R antagonist SNAP-94847 (0.0, 1.0, 5.0 and 10.0 mg kg(-1)) to establish dose response parameters for each drug. Diet-induced obese (DIO) mice were given either vehicle, sub-threshold dose of rimonabant and SNAP-94847 alone or in combination. Impact on behavioral outcomes, food intake, body weight, plasma metabolites and expression of key metabolic proteins in the brown adipose tissue (BAT) and white adipose tissue (WAT) were measured.

RESULTS:

The high doses of rimonabant and SNAP-94847 produced a reduction in food intake after 2 and 24 h. Combining sub-threshold doses of rimonabant and SNAP-94847 produced a significantly greater loss of body weight in DIO mice compared with vehicle and monotherapies. In addition, combining sub effective doses of these drugs led to a shift in markers of thermogenesis in BAT and lipid metabolism in WAT consistent with increased energy expenditure and lipolysis. Furthermore, co-administration of rimonabant and SNAP-94847 produced a transient reduction in food intake, and significantly reduced fat mass and adipocyte size. Importantly, SNAP-94847 significantly attenuated the ability of rimonabant to reduced immobility time in the forced swim test.

CONCLUSION:

These results provide proof of principle that combination of rimonabant and a MCH1 receptor antagonist is highly effective in reducing body weight below that achieved by rimonabant and SNAP-94847 monotherapies. In addition, the combination therapy normalizes the rimonabant-induced behavioral changes seen in the forced swim test.

• Authors: A N A Verty, S H Lockie, A Stefanidis, B J Oldfield
• Journal: International journal of obesity (2005) (Int J Obes (Lond)) Vol. 37 Issue 2 Pg. 279-87 (Feb 2013) ISSN: 1476-5497 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 22473329 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• Anti-Obesity Agents
• Hypothalamic Hormones
• Melanins
• N-(3-(1-((4-(3,4-difluorophenoxy)phenyl)methyl)(4-piperidyl))-4-methylphenyl)-2-methylpropanamide
• Piperidines
• Pituitary Hormones
• Pyrazoles
• melanin-concentrating hormone
• Rimonabant

Topics

• Adipose Tissue, Brown (drug effects, metabolism)
• Adipose Tissue, White (metabolism)
• Affect (drug effects)
• Animals
• Anti-Obesity Agents (pharmacology)
• Body Weight (drug effects)
• Drug Therapy, Combination
• Hypothalamic Hormones (antagonists & inhibitors)
• Lipolysis
• Male
• Melanins (antagonists & inhibitors)
• Mice
• Mice, Inbred C57BL
• Mice, Obese
• Obesity (drug therapy)
• Physical Conditioning, Animal
• Piperidines (pharmacology)
• Pituitary Hormones (antagonists & inhibitors)
• Pyrazoles (pharmacology)
• Rimonabant
• Thermogenesis (drug effects)
• Weight Loss (drug effects)