A new animal study on rimonabant (Acomplia / Zimulti) has identified yet one more possible health benefit for this controversial diet drug: it appears to reduce obesity-related liver damage that can lead to cirhossis of the liver.

A team of researchers led by Mohammed Bensaid of Sanofi-Aventis, the company that has developed rimonabant, reported on these latest developments in the July 2007 issue of Hepatology, the official journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

In their study involving liver function in obese rats, the researchers said they found that rimonabant reduced markers of liver damage, decreased levels of pro-inflammatory proteins, and improved lipid profiles.

Male obese rats were given rimonabant orally daily for 8 weeks and had their food intake monitored; control animals received the same amount of food as those receiving rimonabant.

The researchers reported the results showed treatment with rimonabant reduced liver enlargement, completely abolished hepatic steatosis, and decreased blood levels of enzyme markers that indicate liver damage.

It also strongly reduced levels of hepatic TNFa, a pro-inflammatory protein thought to induce insulin resistance in the liver and be involved in the progression of steatosis to hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis.

"Our hypothesis is that the multi-protective effects of rimonabant may be mediated for a large part by both the reduction in pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNFa and the increase in anti-inflammatory and protective cytokines or hormones such as adiponectin," the researchers said.

"This suggests a potential clinical application for this CB1 receptor antagonist in the treatment of liver diseases associated with obesity and the metabolic syndrome," they added.

The researchers also emphasized that these results were not (or were only slightly observed) in the control animals eating the same diet but not given rimonabant, demonstrating the beneficial effects of the drug compared to diet alone.