Ergoset is a dopamine receptor 2 agonist. Its generic name is bromocriptine. Sandoz calls it Parlodel. Its been sold for the past 20 years as a treatment for Parkinson's disease. Ergoset is a fast release version of the drug. ERGO is also trying it in combination with a dopamine receptor 1 agonist made SBH back when they were SmithKline French. More info is at ERGO's website ergo.com
Here's one of their abstract from the Helsinki Conference on Diabetes:
Treatment of Obesity and Diabetes in Ob/Ob and Db/Db
Mice by Dopaminergic Agonists
P. Scislowski, S. Phaneuf, E. Tozzo, Y. Liang, M. Lubkin, R. Prevelige and A. Cincotta, Ergo
Science, Boston, MA, USA.
We examined the combined effectiveness of SKF38393 (SKF), a D1 receptor agonist, and
bromocriptine (BC), D2 receptor agonist, in treating obesity and diabetes in Ob/Ob and Db/Db
mice. Daily drug injections were administered to female C57BL/6J Ob/Ob and C57BL/KsJ Db/Db
mice 1 hr after light onset for 14 days. Drug treated groups received BC (16 mg/kg) plus SKF (20
mg/kg), whereas pair fed groups (food adjusted to drug treated groups' intake) and control groups
received the vehicle. Oxygen consumption was measured in metabolic cages on day 11 or 12 of
treatment. Plasma glucose, FFA and insulin levels were measured on day 14. In the Ob/Ob mice
statistically significant results included: controls gained 6.9ñ1.3 g of body weight, while the treated
mice lost 7.4ñ0.4 g. The average daily food consumption of controls was 6ñ0.2 g versus 2.8ñ0.1 g
of treated. Oxygen consumption for controls and treated was 240 ml/kg/hr and 1623ñ230,
respectively. Plasma glucose levels were 471ñ42 mg/dl in controls, and 164ñ13 in treated. FFA
levels were 1.27ñ0.1 mM in controls, and 0.37ñ0.05 in treated. Plasma insulin were 63.5ñ17 ng/ml
in controls, and 37.3ñ6.6 in treated. Similar statistically significant results were observed in Db/Db
mice: controls gained 6.6ñ0.4 g of body weight versus 3.4ñ1.3 g in the treated. The average daily
food consumption of controls was 10.7ñ2.8 g versus 5.9ñ0.5 g of the treated. Oxygen consumption
for control and treated was 898ñ250 ml/kg/hr and 2322 ñ283, respectively. Plasma glucose levels
were 485ñ29 mg/dl in controls, and 390ñ55 in the treated. FFA levels were 1.49ñ 0.2 mM in
controls, and 0.45 ñ0.04 in treated. Plasma insulin were 9.4ñ1.3 ng/ml in controls group, and
46.7ñ8.1 in treated. Results from pairfed animals (in both Ob/Ob and Db/Db mice) indicate that the
above drug-induced metabolic changes are not primarily the consequence of decreased food
consumption. Our data strongly suggest for the first time that hyperphagia, hyperglycemia and
hyperlipidemia in animals lacking either leptin (Ob/Ob) or a functional leptin receptor (Db/Db) can
be treated with the combined administration of D1 and D2 receptor agonists. |
