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Unveiling potential of artesunate in treating human obesity
28 Mar 2024
Obesity exposes people to a higher risk of life-threatening diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer. While the treatment of obesity typically involves a combination of lifestyle changes and medications, patient compliance with exercise and dietary changes is often challenging, and many anti-obesity drugs are associated with adverse effects.
An HKBU research demonstrated that artesunate, a derivative from Qinghaosu (artemisinin) which is a natural product from the Chinese herb Artemisia annua, can effectively reduce body weight and improve metabolic profiles in obese mice and macaques, without inducing side effects of nausea and malaise. This is the first time that artesunate is shown to be able to treat obesity in a non-human primate.
The research findings have been published in Nature Communications.
Artesunate as an anti-obesity agent
A research team led by scholars at the School of Chinese Medicine including Dr Xavier Wong, Associate Professor; Professor Bian Zhaoxiang, Chair Professor and Tsang Shiu Tim Endowed Professor in Chinese Medicine Clinical Studies; and Dr Pallavi Asthana, Research Assistant Professor, discovered that artesunate, an FDA-approved anti-malaria drug, is a powerful anti-obesity agent using computer simulated-drug screening methods.
The researchers examined the effects of artesunate treatment in animal models with obesity and investigated its impact on a hormone that regulates bodyweight and appetite. In an experiment, daily administration of artesunate to the obese mice over a period of 13 days led to a reduction in average body weight of approximately 10%, and a dramatic reduction in average body fat of approximately 30%, which was attributable to reduced food intake.
Compared to other commercially available weight loss drugs, artesunate has been found to be more effective in regulating body weight as well as controlling food intake, improving insulin sensitivity, reducing fat, lowering cholesterol levels in the blood, and alleviating fatty liver disease in obese mice.
Demonstrating anti-obesity effect in primate
To further investigate artesunate’s potential as an anti-obesity agent for humans, the researchers conducted an experiment using macaques, a non-human primate. Throughout the study, the artesunate-treated macaques showed approximately 7% reduction in body weight without obvious weight rebound upon treatment discontinuation. Their fasting insulin and blood glucose levels were also lower, indicating improved insulin sensitivity. More importantly, the treated macaques did not show any signs of nausea and malaise. The results highlight the potential of artesunate as an effective and safe anti-obesity agent for humans.
Dr Wong says: “Given the strong anti-obesity effects of artesunate demonstrated by the results of our experiments using a primate model, it is suggested that artesunate can be repurposed as an effective therapeutic agent for the treatment of human obesity, which may bring better treatment results for obese patients.”
Professor Bian says: “The research results provide hope for developing a novel treatment agent in response to the public health challenge of obesity, which warrants more extensive and effective interventions.”