CONTEXT: The serotonin and norepinephrine transporter inhibitor sibutramine is a widely used antiobesity drug. In acute studies, the peripheral sympathomimetic effect of sibutramine was counteracted by a central sympatholytic action. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to test the hypothesis that blood pressure responses to long-term sibutramine therapy may be related to sympathetic nerve traffic before treatment in a prospective open-label study in an academic clinical research center. PATIENTS: This study comprised 20 obese subjects (body mass index, 30-40 kg/m2; age, 30-57 yr) receiving 5 d ofplacebo treatment followed by open-label 15 mg/d sibutramine and hypocaloric diet over 12 wk. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Body weight, blood pressure, heart rate, muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) (microneurography), plasma catecholamines, and adipose tissue gene expression were measured. RESULTS:Open-label sibutramine treatment decreased body weight 4.1 kg (P<0.01) and MSNA 17 bursts per minute (P=0.001), and increased diastolic blood pressure 3 mm Hg (P<0.05) and heart rate 8 bpm (P<0.01). The change in blood pressure with sibutramine treatment was inversely correlated with initial MSNA (r2=0.34; P<0.01). Chronic sibutramine treatment increased adrenoreceptor gene expression and plasma catecholamines. CONCLUSIONS: The blood pressure response to sibutramine treatment is related to initial MSNA so that subjects with higher MSNA exhibit a smaller increase or even a decrease in blood pressure. The phenomenon might be explained by a sustained reduction in central sympathetic activity with sibutramine treatment.
RCT Entities:
CONTEXT: The serotonin and norepinephrine transporter inhibitor sibutramine is a widely used antiobesity drug. In acute studies, the peripheral sympathomimetic effect of sibutramine was counteracted by a central sympatholytic action. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to test the hypothesis that blood pressure responses to long-term sibutramine therapy may be related to sympathetic nerve traffic before treatment in a prospective open-label study in an academic clinical research center. PATIENTS: This study comprised 20 obese subjects (body mass index, 30-40 kg/m2; age, 30-57 yr) receiving 5 d of placebo treatment followed by open-label 15 mg/d sibutramine and hypocaloric diet over 12 wk. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Body weight, blood pressure, heart rate, muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) (microneurography), plasma catecholamines, and adipose tissue gene expression were measured. RESULTS: Open-label sibutramine treatment decreased body weight 4.1 kg (P<0.01) and MSNA 17 bursts per minute (P=0.001), and increased diastolic blood pressure 3 mm Hg (P<0.05) and heart rate 8 bpm (P<0.01). The change in blood pressure with sibutramine treatment was inversely correlated with initial MSNA (r2=0.34; P<0.01). Chronic sibutramine treatment increased adrenoreceptor gene expression and plasma catecholamines. CONCLUSIONS: The blood pressure response to sibutramine treatment is related to initial MSNA so that subjects with higher MSNA exhibit a smaller increase or even a decrease in blood pressure. The phenomenon might be explained by a sustained reduction in central sympathetic activity with sibutramine treatment.
Authors: Kerstin M Oltmanns; Marcus Heldmann; Susanne Daul; Silke Klose; Michael Rotte; Michael Schäfer; Hans-Jochen Heinze; Thomas F Münte; Hendrik Lehnert Journal: Psychopharmacology (Berl) Date: 2011-12-24 Impact factor: 4.530