Bronander and Bloch Herva A, Laitinen J, Miettunen J, et al. 2006. Obesity and depression: results from the longitudinal Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort Study. Int J Obes (Lond), 30:520–7. Howlett AC, Barth F, Bonner TI, et al. 2002. International Union of Phar- macology XXVII. Classiﬁcation of cannabinoid receptors. Pharmacol Rev, 54:161–202. Kershaw EE, Flier JS, 2004. Adipose tissue as an endocrine organ. J Clin Endocrinol Meta, 89:2548–56. Kirkham TC, Williams CM, Fezza F, et al. 2002. Endocannabinoid levels in rat limbic forebrain and hypothalamus in relation to fasting, feeding and satiation: stimulation of eating by 2-arachidonoyl glycerol. Br J Pharmacol, 136:550–57. Lakka HM, Laaksonen DE, Lakka TA, et al. 2002. The metabolic syndrome and total and cardiovascular disease mortality in middle-aged men. JAMA, 288:2709–16. Liu YL, Connoley IP, Wilson CA, et al. 2005. Effects of the cannabinoid CB-1 receptor antagonist SR141716 on oxygen consumption and so- leus muscle glucose uptake in Lep(ob)/Lep(ob) mice. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord, 29:183–7. Lorenzo C, Okoloise M, Williams K, et al. 2003. The metabolic syndrome as predictor of type 2 diabetes. the San Antonio Heart Study. Diabetes Care, 26:3153–9. Martin M, Ledent C, Parmentier M, et al. 2002. Involvement of CB1 can- nabinoid receptors in emotional behaviour. Psychopharmacology, 159:379–87. Osei-Hyiaman D, Depetrillo M, Pacher P, et al. 2005. Endocannabinoid activation at hepatic CB-1 receptors stimulates fatty acid synthesis and contributes to diet-induced obesity. J Clin Invest, 115:1298–1305. Piomelli D. 2003, The molecular logic of endocannabinoid signalling. Nat Rev Neurosci, 4:873–84. Pi-Sunyer FX, Aronne LJ, Heshmati HM, et al. 2006. Effect of rimonabant, a cannabinoid-1 receptor blocker, on weight and cardiometabolic risk factors in overweight or obese patients: RIO-North America: a random- ized controlled trial. JAMA, 295:761–75. Ravinet Trillou C, Arnone M, Delgorge C, et al. 2003. Anti-obesity effect of SR141716, a CB1 receptor antagonist, in diet-induced obese mice. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol, 284:R345–53. Ravinet Trillou C, Delgorge C, Menet C, et al. 2004. CB-1 cannabinoid receptor knockout in mice leads to leanness, resistance to diet-induced obesity and enhanced leptin sensitivity. Int J Obes, 28:640–8. Sanoﬁ Aventis, 2006. Sanoﬁ-aventis received from the FDA an approvable letter for rimonabant for weight management and a non approvable letter for smoking cessation [online]. Accessed 3 Nov 2006. URL: http://en.sanoﬁ-aventis.com/press/p_press_2006.asp. Scheen AJ, Finer N, Hollander P, et al. 2006. Efﬁcacy and tolerability of rimonabant in overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomised controlled study. Lancet, 368:1660–72. Sipe JC, Waalen J, Gerber A, et al. 2005. Overweight and obesity associated with a missense polymorphism in fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH). Int J Obes, 29:755–769. Turpault S, Kanamaluru V, Lockwood GF, et al. 2006. Rimonabant phar- macokinetics in healthy and obese subjects [abstract]. Clin Pharmacol Ther, 79(Suppl 2):50. Van Gaal LF, Rissanen AM, Scheen AJ, et al. 2005. RIO-Europe Study Group. Effects of the cannabinoid-1 receptor blocker rimonabant on weight reduction and cardiovascular factors in overweight patients: 1- year experience from the RIO-Europe study. Lancet, 365:1389–97. Vickers SP, Webster LJ, Wyatt A, et al. 2003. Preferential effects of the cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist, SR 141716, on food intake and body weight gain of obese (fa/fa) compared to lean Zucker rats. Psy- chopharmacology, 167:103–11. World Health Organization, 2006a. Obesity and overweight [online]. Accessed 30 Oct 2006. URL: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/fact- sheets/fs311/en/. World Health Organization, 2006b. Obesity and overweight [online]. Accessed 3 Nov 2006. URL: http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactiv- ity/publications/facts/obesity/en/. Zigmond AS, Snaith RP, 1983. The hospital anxiety and depression scale. Acta Psychiatr Scand, 67:361–70. 190 Vascular Health and Risk Management 2007:3(2)