The Effects of Rimonabant, on Weight and Metabolic Risk Factors

Summary

1\) To examine the efficacy of rimonabant in decreasing weight and metabolic parameters/cardiovascular disease risk in people with schizophrenia receiving second generation antipsychotics 2) To examine the safety and tolerability of rimonabant as an adjunctive agent for decreasing weight and metabolic risk in people with schizophrenia 3) To examine the efficacy of rimonabant for neurocognitive impairments in people with schizophrenia treated with second-generation antipsychotics (secondary outcome) 4) To examine the efficacy of rimonabant for patient perceived health outcomes and quality of life (secondary outcome) 5) To test the effect of rimonabant on cigarette smoking, nicotine dependence and nicotine craving in people with schizophrenia 6) To examine the effects of rimonabant on food satiety in people with schizophrenia

There is an increasing awareness of the problem of metabolic issues in people with schizophrenia and renewed focus on physical health care for this population. There is under-treatment, in general, of medical conditions in people with schizophrenia, and increased mortality from natural causes. People with schizophrenia are at risk for developing obesity due to many factors including inactive lifestyle, poor dietary choices, and side effects of the commonly used atypical antipsychotics. Metabolic syndrome has been discussed in the cardiology and endocrinology for over two decades, but its prevalence in the mentally ill is only now being fully realized. Diabetes mellitus may be twice as prevalent among patients with schizophrenia as in the general population and metabolic syndrome is probably even more prevalent than diabetes among people with schizophrenia. There is now an opportunity to address this serious problem. A new drug, rimonabant, has recently been approved in several European and Latin American countries. This drug represents the first of a new class of psychoactive drugs witch may improve metabolic problems through decreasing appetite drive. This may also help decrease the drive for cigarette use, which is also a great problem for people with schizophrenia. Is this a safe and effective treatment in this population? This study proposes to test this question in a rapid study, which will develop the basis for future work in this important area.

Conditions

• Schizophrenia
• Schizoaffective Disorder
• Obesity
• Hypertension
• Smoking

Interventions

DRUG

Rimonabant

One 20 mg tablet given 1 time per day for 112 days.

DRUG

Placebo

One placebo tablet given 1 time per day for 112 days.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Maryland, Baltimore

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Robert W Buchanan, MD · University of Maryland, College Park

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

QUADRUPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

55 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2007-11-30

Primary Completion

2009-03-31

Completion

2009-03-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations