Rimonabant shows benefits other than weight loss
Rimonabant, a drug being developed by sanofi-aventis, exerts direct metabolic effects on type 2 diabetes independent of weight loss, according to results from the rimonabant in obesity (RIO)-diabetes trial.
The one-year trial randomised 1,045 overweight or obese type 2 diabetes
patients to rimonabant 5mg, 20mg or placebo each day. All patients were
on a mild hypocalorific diet (-600kcal/day) throughout the study.
The primary end point of absolute change in body weight from baseline
was –1.4kg, –2.3kg and –5.3kg in the placebo, 5mg and
20mg groups, respectively.
In addition, after one year HbA1c levels rose, on average, by 0.1 per
cent in the placebo group and dropped by 0.6 per cent in the
rimonabant 20mg group (P<0.001). High-density lipoprotein rose by
2.7mg/dl in the placebo group and by 6.6mg/dl in the rimonabant 20g group
(P<0.001). Triglycerides rose by 3.6mg/dl in placebo-treated patients
and fell by 31.2mg/dl in those treated with rimonabant (P<0.001).
Adverse events included nausea, dizziness, hypoglycaemic episodes, anxiety,
fatigue, vomiting and diarrhoea.
Presenting the results at a meeting of the American
Diabetes Association in San Diego last month, lead investigator André Scheen, professor
of medicine and clinical pharmacology at the University of Liège,
Belgium, said: “The results are explained by weight loss only partly,
suggesting rimonabant may exert direct metabolic effects in type 2 diabetes.” |
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