Abstract

Obesity is a global public health problem and is related with fatal diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Medical and lifestyle-related strategies to combat obesity have their limitations. White adipose tissue (WAT) browning is a promising strategy for increasing energy expenditure in individuals with obesity. Uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) drives WAT browning. We previously screened natural products that enable induction of Ucp1 and demonstrated that these natural products induced WAT browning and increased energy expenditure in mice with diet-induced obesity. In this study, we aimed to extensively optimise the structure of compound 1, previously shown to promote WAT browning. Compound 3s exhibited a significantly higher ability to induce Ucp1 in white and brown adipocytes than did compound 1. A daily injection of compound 3s at 5 mg/kg prevented weight gain by 13.6% in high-fat diet–fed mice without any toxicological observation. In addition, compound 3s significantly improved glucose homeostasis, decreased serum triacylglycerol levels, and reduced total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels, without altering dietary intake or physical activity. Pharmaceutical properties such as solubility, lipophilicity, and membrane permeability as well as metabolic stability, half-life (T1/2), and blood exposure ratio of i.p to i.v were significantly improved in compound 3s when compared with those in compound 1. Regarding the mode of action of WAT browning, the induction of Ucp1 and Prdm4 by compounds 1 and 3s was dependent on Akt1 in mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Therefore, this study suggests the potential of compound 3s as a therapeutic agent for individuals with obesity and related metabolic diseases, which acts through the induction of WAT browning as well as brown adipose tissue activation.