Clinical studies with mazindol.

An anoerxiant, mazindol suppresses food intake by 1) stimulating beta-adrenergic receptors, 2) inhibiting the feeding center and, 3) stimulating the satiety center in the hypothalamus. In Japan, mazindol is available for clinical use. We examined the effects of mazindol on 1) body weight, appetite, and abnormalities of obesity-related diseases in long-term use 2) maintenance of the reduced body weight after very-low-calorie diet (VLCD) therapy 3) combined use with VLCD therapy and, 4) inhibition of body weight gain in Prader-Willi syndrome. In long-term effects of mazindol, the average reduction of individual body weight was around 6.8 kg. The appetite of 59% of obese subjects was moderately suppressed. Systolic blood pressure, serum GOT, serum triglyceride, serum cholesterol, and glucose tolerance were also improved. With mazindol, 53.3% of obese subjects kept the reduced body weight after VLCD, in contrast, 20.0% of them kept it without mazindol. Combined use of mazindol with VLCD made the VLCD therapy more effective in outpatients. Two of 3 patients with Prader-Willi syndrome inhibited their body weight gain with mazindol. Thus, mazindol produced positive effects in these studies, although the effects were limited.