Compositions including modafinil for treatment of eating disorders and for appetite stimulation

Abstract

Modafinil is effective in improving symptoms of eating disorders or in stimulating appetite.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001] 1. Field of the Invention[0002] The present invention is related to the fields of neuropharmacological agents, including agents that are useful in the treatment of eating disorders and agents that stimulate appetite to produce weight gain in both human and animals in need thereof.[0003] 2. Description of Related Art[0004] Modafinil (C.sub.15H.sub.15NO.sub.2S), 2-(benzhydrylsulfinyl) acetamide, or 2-[(diphenylmethyl) sulfinyl] acetamide, is a synthetic acetamide derivative with wake-promoting activity, the structure of which has been described in French Pat. No. 78 05 510 and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,177,290. Modafinil was tested in combination with various agents including apomorphine, amphetamine, reserpine, oxotremorine, hypnotics, yohimbine, 5-hydroxytryptophan, monoamine oxidase inhibitor (I.M.A.O.), and in several behavioral conditions, as described in the cited patents. The conclusion from such tests is that modafinil presents a neuropsychopharmacol...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

0007] The present disclosure provides a novel use for modafinil in treatment of eating disorders and in stimulating appetite in humans suffering from an eating disorder, or who want or need to gain weight for athletic performance or for cosmetic reasons. The present disclosure also provides novel veterinary or agricultural uses for modafinil in stimulating appetite and increasing the rate of weight gain in animals, particularly young animals or weanlings, and more particularly young animals of species that are utilized for meat. Although the orexin peptides are described as appetite stimulants, modafinil offers certain advantages over those peptides in the compositions and methods disclosed because modafinil has been shown to be an effective oral treatment with activity in the brain and central nervous system. As such, modafinil is more convenient to administer than a peptide agent would be, which must often be injected in order to be effective.

Problems solved by technology

Although the appetite stimulating neuropeptides may prove useful for stimulating appetite, and / or promoting weight gain in a variety of situations, such as eating disorders including anorexia nervosa, disease related weight loss, or even in agricultural applications such as promoting faster weight gain in weanling animals, it is difficult to administer peptides that are active in the brain and central nervous system by an oral route.

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