Oleoylethanolamide, an endogenous PPAR-α agonist, lowers body weight and hyperlipidemia in obese rats

The fatty-acid ethanolamide, oleoylethanolamide (OEA), is a naturally occurring lipid that regulates feeding and body weight [Rodríguez de Fonseca, F., Navarro, M., Gómez, R., Escuredo, L., Nava, F., Fu, J., Murillo-Rodríguez, E., Giuffrida, A., LoVerme, J., Gaetani, S., Kathuria, S., Gall, C., Piomelli, D., 2001. An anorexic lipid mediator regulated by feeding. Nature 414, 209-212], and serves as an endogenous agonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR-α) [Fu, J., Gaetani, S., Oveisi, F., Lo Verme, J., Serrano, A., Rodriguez De Fonseca, F., Rosengarth., A., Luecke, H., Di Giacomo, B., Tarzia, G., Piomelli, D., 2003. Oleoylethanolamide regulates feeding and body weight through activation of the nuclear receptor PPAR-α. Nature 425, 90-93], a ligand-activated transcription factor that regulates several aspects of lipid metabolism [Desvergne, B., Wahli, W., 1999. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors: nuclear control of metabolism. Endocr. Rev. 20, 649-688]). OEA reduces food intake in wild-type mice, but not in mice deficient in PPAR-α (PPAR-α−/−), an effect that is also observed with the PPAR-α agonists Wy-14643 and GW7647 [Brown, P.J., Chapman, J.M., Oplinger, J.A., Stuart, L.W., Willson, T.M. and Wu, Z., 2000. Chemical compounds as selective activators of PPAR-α. PCT Int. Appl., 32; Willson, T. M., Brown, P. J., Sternbach, D. D., Henke, B. R., 2000. The PPARs: from orphan receptors to drug discovery. J. Med. Chem. 43, 527-550]. By contrast, specific agonists of PPAR-δ/β (GW501516) or PPAR-γ (ciglitazone) have no such effect. In obese Zucker rats, which lack functional leptin receptors, OEA reduces food intake and lowers body-weight gain along with plasma lipid levels. Similar effects are seen in diet-induced obese rats and mice. In the present study, we report that subchronic OEA treatment (5 mg kg−1, intraperitoneally, i.p., once daily for two weeks) in Zucker rats initiates transcription of PPAR-α and other PPAR-α target genes, including fatty-acid translocase (FAT/CD36), liver fatty-acid binding protein (L-FABP), and uncoupling protein-2 (UCP-2). Moreover, OEA decreases neutral lipid content in hepatocytes, as assessed by Oil red O staining, as well as serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels. The results suggest that OEA regulates lipid metabolism and that this effect may contribute to its anti-obesity properties.