A Weight-Loss Drug for Atherosclerosis?

Rimonabant reduced some cardiovascular risk factors — but not disease progression — among obese patients in a prospective, placebo-controlled trial.

Obesity is associated with a constellation of risk factors for atherosclerosis. But can treatment for obesity slow the progression of cardiovascular disease? To test whether the weight-loss and metabolic benefits of rimonabant, an inhibitor of the cannabinoid type 1 (CB₁) receptor, would be effective against atherosclerosis, investigators conducted the Strategy to Reduce Atherosclerosis Development Involving Administration of Rimonabant — The Intravascular Ultrasound Study (STRADIVARIUS), an industry-funded, prospective study of 839 adults with abdominal obesity and coronary artery disease enrolled at 112 centers in North America, Europe, and Australia between 2004 and 2005.

Patients (65% men; mean age, 58; mean waist circumference, 46 inche…

Reviewing Author

Joel M. Gore, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportNIH–National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Joel M. Gore, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportNIH–National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

A Weight-Loss Drug for Atherosclerosis?

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Reviewing Author