Taranabant (codenamed MK-0364) is a cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB₁)

inverse agonist In pharmacology, an inverse agonist is a drug that binds to the same receptor as an agonist but induces a pharmacological response opposite to that of the agonist. A neutral antagonist has no activity in the absence of an agonist or inverse ago ...

that was investigated as a potential treatment for

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's ...

due to its

anorectic An anorectic or anorexic is a drug which reduces appetite, resulting in lower food consumption, leading to weight loss. By contrast, an appetite stimulant is referred to as orexigenic. The term is (from the Greek ''ἀν-'' (an-) = "without" a ...

effects. It was discovered by Merck & Co. In October 2008, Merck has stopped its phase III

clinical trials Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, drugs, dieta ...

with the drugs due to high level of

central nervous system The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all p ...

side effects, mainly depression and

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

References

Anorectics Cannabinoids CB1 receptor antagonists Pyridines Nitriles Chlorobenzenes Trifluoromethyl compounds Carboxamides {{cannabinoid-stub

See also

References