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Rimonabant
- indication:For use in conjunction with diet and exercise for patients with a body mass index greater than 30 kg/m<sup>2</sup>, or patients wih a BMI greater than 27 kg/m<sup>2</sup> with associated risk factors, such as type 2 diabetes or dyslipidaemia.
- pharmacologypharmacology:
- mechanism: Rimonabant is a specific CB1 cannabinoid receptor antagonist. There is considerable evidence that the endocannabinoid (endogenous cannabinoid) system plays a significant role in appetitive drive and associated behaviours. It is therefore reasonable to hypothesize that the attenuation of the activity of this system would have therapeutic benefit in treating disorders that might have a component of excess appetitive drive or over-activity of the endocannabinoid system, such as obesity, ethanol and other drug abuse, and a variety of central nervous system and other disorders.
- toxicity: Almost twice as many people discontinued rimonabant compared with placebo because of adverse events (13.8% vs. 7.2%). These consistently involved psychiatric disorders (8.5% vs. 3.2%), including depression and anxiety. Other common side effects included insomnia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and fatigue.
- absorprion: Undetermined
- halflife: 6 to 9 days with normal BMI and 16 days if BMI is greater than 30
- roouteelimination:
- volumedistribution:
- clearance: