MethylphenidateThe Effects of Methylphenidate on Energy Intake and Energy Expenditure

The Problem: Obesity is one of the leading causes of chronic disease and death. The efficacy of diet and exercise to sustain weight loss over the long term is weak. While pharmacotherapy is more effective than behavior intervention in maintaining weight loss the effects are often not sufficient to achieve optimal health benefits. Current drug treatments may be sub-optimal because they do not directly target the rewarding value of food, drive to eat, food liking, and impulsivity for eating energy dense snack foods, all of which influences both quantity and quality of food intake and impacts adherence needed to maintain weight loss.

The Solution: The limitations in current anti-obesity agents are potentially addressed by Methylphenidate (MPH). We showed that MPH reduces food intake, dietary fat intake, hunger and food reward, as increase resting energy expenditure in obese and non-obese adults;however, no controlled field trials have been conducted in obese individuals without ADHD.

Objectives/Hypotheses: Primary: To test the effects of MPH on energy intake in obese men and women. Secondary: to examine the effects of MPH on energy expenditure, body weight, impulsivity, food reward, and olfaction. The investigators predict that compared to placebo, MPH will show reduced appetite, along with reduced impulsivity, food reward, and smell function.

Deliverable: This study may be the first to establish the short-term efficacy and safety of using MPH for weight loss, and if successful, data will inform a larger trial that can potentially identify MPH as a novel therapeutic agent for treating obesity and related chronic diseases in a predisposed population.