A pharmacotherapeutic approach to the regulation of hyperinsulinemia and obesity.

A selective inhibitor of thromboxane synthase, Ro 22-3581 has been shown to be a useful tool for investigating the relationship between hyperinsulinemia and obesity. These studies have established that the pharmacologic normalization of the hyperinsulinemia associated with elevated weights in genetically obese and diet-induced obese rats resulted in decreased weight gain or weight loss. This effect was shown to be reversible, partially independent of the suppression of food intake, dependent on a functional endocrine pancreas, and not diabetogenic. However, these studies have not established a cause and effect relationship between the inhibition of thromboxane synthase activity by Ro 22-3581 and its suppression of insulin secretion and circulating insulin levels.