Diet drug Acomplia (rimonabant) was found to significantly reduce human visceral fat -- the more dangerous kind of abdominal fat -- in a multi-center study in Japan, Sanofi-Aventis announced on Sept. 18th.

A report on the study providing the first direct evidence of the role of rimonabant (Acomplia / Zimulti) in reducing the metabolically active fat, which surrounds such vital organ as the liver and pancreas, was presented at
the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.

The visceral fat area in 526 obese Japanese participants in the study was significantly more reduced with those taking the customary 20 mg rimonabant dosage (-40.6cm2) than for those taking a placebo (-20.3cm2), researchers reported.

Two types of adipose tissue exist in the human body, characterised by anatomical and metabolic differences.

Subcutaneous fat, located directly under the skin, contains small insulin-sensitive adipocytes (fat cells), while the visceral fat (inter-abdominal adipose tissue), wrapped around the organs in the abdomen, contains large insulin-resistant adipocytes.

Excess visceral fat, present in patients with abdominal obesity, leads to metabolic imbalance, such as lipid disorders, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, factors leading to cardio-metabolic disease.