group, and 55 percent in the 20 mg of rimonabant group. After randomization, weight loss from baseline to 1-year was significantly greater in patients receiving 20 mg or 5 mg of rimonabant than in patients receiving placebo. The percentage of patients achieving a 5 percent or greater weight loss at 1-year was 26.1 percent for patients receiving 5 mg of rimonabant, 48.6 percent for patients receiving 20 mg of rimonabant, and 20.0 percent for patients receiving placebo. Compared with the placebo group, the 20 mg of rimonabant group produced greater average reductions in weight, waist circumference, and level of triglycerides and a greater increase in level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.

Patients who were switched from the 20 mg of rimonabant group to the placebo group during year 2 experienced weight regain while those who continued to receive 20 mg of rimonabant maintained their weight loss and favorable changes in cardiometabolic risk factors. Rimonabant was generally well tolerated; the most common drug-related adverse event was nausea (11.2 percent for the 20 mg of rimonabant group vs. 5.8 percent for the placebo group).

"It must be acknowledged that the trial was limited by a high dropout rate and that long-term effects of the drug require further study. Still, our observations collectively suggest that rimonabant may well represent an innovative approach to the management of multiple cardiometabolic risk factors, facilitating and maintaining improvements through weight lossdependent and independent pathways," the authors conclude.

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Contact: Elizabeth Streich
212-305-6535
JAMA and Archives Journals
14-Feb-2006

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