Addiction Drug Help Obese Rats Shed Extra Pounds In Short Time

An American government researcher reported on Monday that an addiction drug, Vigabatrin, which was being tested as a treatment for addiction can help obese rats shed off extra pounds in short period of time.

Vigabatrin is most often used in the treatment of epilepsy, to help control fits or blackouts. In Canada, a version of vigabatrin is sold as Sabri, and in Mexico by Deerfield, Illinois-based Ovation Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Vigabatrin was originally made by Sanofi-Aventis. The drug has its own side effects, such as it can cause damage to the retina, leading to vision problems and hence it is not approved in the United States.

At present, Vigabatrin is undergoing US Phase II trials against cocaine and/or methamphetamine addiction across the U.S.

The new study conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory found that animals studies suggest that the same brain circuits responsible for addiction play a role in obesity. So the team of researchers looked at the effects of vigabatrin in a strain of lab rats bred to be obese.

The researchers found that lab rats bred to be obese lost up to 19% of their total weight as compared to non-obese rats who lost 12-20% following short-term vigabatrin administration. The genetically bred rats and non-obese rats were given various amounts of vigabatrin or a placebo for up to 40 days.

Lead author of the study, Amy DeMarco, working in the laboratory of Brookhaven Lab senior scientist Stephen Dewey said, "Our results appear to demonstrate that vigabatrin induced satiety in these animals."

Vigabatrin helps to stop the breakdown of an important brain-messenger chemical called GABA and so leaves enough of this chemical to calm the brain and to help prevent the fits and blackouts. This helps in decreasing the food craving and hence it also appears to make animals crave less food.

The researchers wrote in the journal Synapse, the drug halts the brain's dopamine reward system, which underlies addiction and overeating.

"For substance abusers, the number one cause of relapse is environmental cues, triggers," Dr. Stephen Dewey said.

"A fairly significant proportion of subjects who are obese suffer from something called binge eating disorders. They binge-eat based on cues. They see a cake, they smell a hamburger and they crave and they start to eat. One of the great things about this drug is it stops this," Dewey added.

DeMarco added further, "Most drugs of abuse do the same thing to the brain. They increase dopamine. GVG can prevent that increase of dopamine.”

The findings of the study appear in the online issue of August’ 20 in the journal Synapse.