Taranabant is a highly selective cannabinoid-1 (CB1) receptor inverse agonist developed by Merck & Co for the treatment of obesity. The Phase III taranabant study involved about 2,400 patients and was to be conducted for two years. In March 2008, after completion of 52 weeks of the study, Merck reported positive results of the drug in conjunction with diet and exercise in obese patients. The patients experienced double the amount of weight loss by taking 2mg of taranabant when compared to the patients treated with placebo. However, in October 2008, the company discontinued the Phase III programme and clinical development of taranabant because of its side effects. The drug showed gastrointestinal and psychiatric side effects such as increased anxiety, depression and irritability. Merck had previously planned to file for regulatory approval with the US Food and Drug Administration in 2008, but subsequently withdrew it.

Cirazoline is an agonist of alpha1A adrenergic receptor, a partial agonist of alpha1B and alpha1D receptors, and an antagonist of alpha2 adrenergic receptors. Cirazoline was used to study the biologic function of adrenergic receptors. Injection of cirazoline into to the paravenricular hypothalamic nucleus of rats suppressed food and water intake. Cirazoline caused a large renal vasopressor response in rats. Systemic administration of cirazoline impaired spatial working memory in monkeys.

Lysergide (LSD) is a semi-synthetic hallucinogen and is one of the most potent drugs known. Recreational use became popular between the 1960s to 1980s, but is now less common. LSD was first synthesized by Albert Hoffman while working for Sandoz Laboratories in Basel in 1938. Some years later, during a re-evaluation of the compound, he accidentally ingested a small amount and described the first ‘trip’. During the 1950s and 1960s, Sandoz evaluated the drug for therapeutic purposes and marketed it under the name Delysid®. It was used for research into the chemical origins of mental illness. Recreational use started in the 1960s and is associated with the ‘psychedelic period’. LSD possesses a complex pharmacological profile that includes direct activation of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine receptors. In addition, one of its chief sites of action is that of compound-specific (“allosteric”) alterations in secondary messengers associated with 5HT2A and 5HT2C receptor activation and changes in gene expression. The hallucinogenic effects of LSD are likely due to agonism at 5HT2A and 5HT2C receptors. LSD is also an agonist at the majority of known serotonin receptors, including 5HT1A, 5HT1B, 5HT1D, 5HT5A, 5HT6 and 5HT7 receptors. During the 1960s, LSD was investigated for a variety of psychiatric indications, including the following: as an aid in treatment of schizophrenia; as a means of creating a "model psychosis"; as a direct antidepressant; and as an adjunct to psychotherapy. LSD is listed in Schedule I of the United Nations 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances.

Hydroxypioglitazone (M-IV) is an active metabolite of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) agonist pioglitazone. Experiments in vitro have shown that hydroxypioglitazone was more efficient than the parent drug in stimulating lipid synthesis.

L-Arabinose is a monosaccharide extracted from plant gums, corn fiber and beet pulps. It is a poorly-absorbed, readily-available sweet-tasting pentose. L-Arabinose is known to suppress obesity by regulating the fasting blood glucose level and the insulin resistance index. L-arabinose is a non-caloric sugar. L-arabinose may inhibit intestinal sucrase activity and thereby delay sucrose digestion.