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Effects of the 5-HT2C receptor agonist meta-chlorophenylpiperazine on appetite, food intake and emotional processing in healthy volunteers

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Abstract

Rationale

The treatment of obesity is an increasing global health priority, yet few effective drug treatments are currently available. The discovery of novel anti-obesity therapies could be assisted by the validation of experimental (translational) medicine models in healthy volunteers that assess efficacy and safety at an early stage of drug development.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the 5-HT2C receptor agonist meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (mCPP) in an experimental medicine model assessing both appetite and mood.

Methods

Using a between-subjects, double-blind, placebo-controlled design, 24 male and 24 female participants were randomly assigned to either placebo, 15- or 30-mg mCPP treatment groups. Lunch was eaten from a Universal Eating Monitor (UEM) that measured eating rate, and the participants completed the P1vital® Oxford Emotional Test Battery (ETB) and a series of appetite and mood ratings.

Results

mCPP reduced appetite and, in women, enhanced measures of satiation. The drug also enhanced memory for emotional material in the word recall and recognition memory tasks of the ETB.

Conclusions

The results provide new insight into the effects of mCPP on appetite, satiety and memory in humans. In addition, our data provide an illustration of the value of measuring changes in appetite and mood in healthy volunteers to determine the potential efficacy and safety of novel anti-obesity drugs.

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Acknowledgments

The research was carried out at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)/Wellcome Trust Birmingham Clinical Research Facility. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health. The authors would like to thank the staff at the facility for their support during the study. This work was funded by P1vital and the BBSRC1

Conflicts of interest

Dr Colin Dourish is an employee and shareholder of P1vital Ltd., Dr Suzanne Higgs is a member of P1vital's Advisory Panel, and Jason Michael Thomas is funded by the Steve Cooper P1vital—BBSRC PhD Studentship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

    J. M. Thomas & S. Higgs

  2. P1vital, Manor House, Howbery Park, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, OX10 8BA, UK

    C. T. Dourish

  3. Centre for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, School of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TH, UK

    J. W. Tomlinson & Z. Hassan-Smith

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  1. J. M. Thomas
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  2. C. T. Dourish
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  4. Z. Hassan-Smith
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  5. S. Higgs
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Correspondence to J. M. Thomas.

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Thomas, J.M., Dourish, C.T., Tomlinson, J.W. et al. Effects of the 5-HT2C receptor agonist meta-chlorophenylpiperazine on appetite, food intake and emotional processing in healthy volunteers. Psychopharmacology 231, 2449–2459 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-013-3409-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-013-3409-x

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