Diet drug rimonabant, which has been approved for use in Europe and a number of other countries but not the United States, may be useful in blocking the development of alcoholic fatty liver, according to U.S. researchers.

Reporting in the March issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, the researchers from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that mice treated with rimonabant, a drug designed to block cannabinoid receptors, become resistant to alcohol's fat-building effects in the liver.

The study did not address other drugs that impact the CB-1 receptor, such as Merck's taranabant, but it appeared likely they might have the same effect.

Alcoholic fatty liver can progress to more serious disease, and alcoholism is a leading cause of liver disease in the U.S. and other western societies.

"What makes these findings particularly interesting from our perspective is that they may have practical implications," said George Kunos of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

"Treatment of animals with a [cannabinoid receptor] antagonist largely prevented alcohol's effect. It suggests that the development of fatty liver in those who use alcohol could be interfered with, or perhaps reversed, with such treatment," Kunos said.

In addition to alcoholism, obesity can also lead to the development of fatty liver disease.

"Although alcoholic fatty liver is reversible in its early stages by cessation of drinking, this is often not feasible," the researchers said. "The present findings suggest that treatment with a CB1 antagonist may slow the development of fatty liver and thus prevent or delay its progression to more severe and irreversible forms of liver disease."

"Clinical trials testing the effectiveness of CB1 receptor blockers in the treatment of both alcoholic and nonalcoholic fatty liver and their more severe sequelae may be warranted," the researchers concluded.