Patent ID: 7419951

Claim:
A method of reducing adipocyte growth in a subject comprising: (a) identifying an overweight or obese subject; and (b) administering to the subject so identified a therapeutically effective amount of a natriuretic peptide clearance receptor (nprC) inhibitor of the formula: wherein R 1 is —CH 2 CH 2 —, —CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 —, ═CH—CH═CH— or —N═CH—; R 2 is H or CH 3 R 3 is —CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 —, —(E)—CH═CHC(═O)NH—, —CH 2 CH 2 C(═O)NH—, para-disubstituted phenyl, ortho-disubstituted phenyl, or a single bond; R 4 is —NHC(═O)—, —C(═O)NH—, or —S(═O) 2 NH—; R 5 is 1-naphthyl, 2-naphthyl, —CH 2 CH 2 NHCH 2 CH═CH-phenyl, —CH 2 CH 2 -phenyl, —CH═CH-phenyl, 2-quinolyl, 3-quinolyl, 4-quinolyl, 6-quinolyl, 3-isoquinolyl, 2-quinoxaline, 5-chloro-2-indolyl, 2-indolyl, 4-chlorophenyl, 4-methylphenyl, 3-methoxyphenyl, 4-cyanophenyl, 3,4-difluorophenyl, 3-chloro-4-fluorophenyl, 2, 4-dichlorophenyl, 3,4-dichlorophenyl, 4-chlorophenyl, 3, 5-dimethoxyphenyl, 4-tert-butylphenyl, phenyl, 4-trifluoromethylphenyl, —CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 -phenyl, 6-quinolyl-C(═O)—, 2-quinoxaline-C(═O)—, 5-chloro-2-benimidazolyl, fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl, 4-chlorobenzyl, 4-methylbenzyl, 3-quinoxalinyl, 3,4-difluorophenyl, or 4-fluuorophenyl; R 6 is isobutyl or sec-butyl R 7 is N-methlyglycine, —NHCH 2 CH 2 NHC(═O)—, L-arginine, D-arginine, L-ornithine, D-ornithine, histidine, citrulline, proline, hydroxyproline, 3-pyridinylalanine, L-N-methylalanine, D-N-methylalanine, aminobutyric acid, N-2-indolizidinyl or thiazolidine; R 8 is L-isoleucine-NH 2 , D-isoleucine-NH 2 , —CH 2 -cyclopentyl, —CH 2 -2-tetrahydrofuranyl, tert-butylglycine-NH 2 , n-butyl, isobutyl, —NH-cyclopentyl, —NHCH 2 -2-furanyl, —NHCH 2 -pyrininyl, —NHCH 2 -cyclohexyl, D-leucinol, —NH-isobutyl, L-allo-isoleucine-NH 2 , 1-hydroxycycloleucinol, 2-(aminomethyl)-1-ethyl-pyrrolidine, or (S)—NH 2 -methylbutyl or R 8 is absent when R 7 is N-2-indolizidinyl; R 9 is ═CH— or —C(═O)—; and ═* represents a double bond when R 9 is ═CH— and a single bond when R 9 is C(═O)—.