There is a need for new safe and effective appetite suppressant agents that will be useful as dietary aids for weight control. The drugs in use today are usually phenethyleneamine types with central nervous system (CNS) stimulation as a side effect. One appetite suppressant drug acts as a depressant. These appetite suppressant drugs affect biogenic amine functions in the CNS. We have discovered a derivative of a compound obtained from a plant source that suppresses appetite with no behavioral or toxic effects of any kind. When added to rat diets the effects are dose dependent, and are apparently due to systematic absorption. This project will prepare possible metabolites and analogs of this natural source appetite suppressant in an attempt to discover more active agents that are equally safe. Tests of effectiveness and safety will be carried out by feeding the compounds to rats in diets during a three week period. Feed intake, weight gain and other relevant parameters will be measured. Gross behavioral and toxic symptoms will be observed. The project will serve to develop information about the mode of action of the parent compound, and structure-activity relationships of the derivatives of this unusual new anorectic agent.
