Inhibition of MGAT2 modulates fat-induced gut peptide release and fat intake in normal mice and ameliorates obesity and diabetes in ob/ob mice fed on a high-fat diet.

Monoacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 2 (MGAT2) is one of the key enzymes responsible for triglyceride (TG) re-synthesis in the small intestine. We have previously demonstrated that pharmacological inhibition of MGAT2 has beneficial effects on obesity and metabolic disorders in mice. Here, we further investigate the effects of MGAT2 inhibition on (a) fat-induced gut peptide release and fat intake in normal mice and (b) metabolic disorders in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed ob/ob mice, a model of severe obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus, using an orally bioavailable MGAT2 inhibitor Compound B (CpdB). CpdB inhibited elevation of plasma TG in mice challenged with an oil-supplemented liquid meal. Oil challenge stimulated the secretion of two gut anorectic hormones (peptide tyrosine-tyrosine and glucagon-like peptide-1) into the bloodstream, and these responses were augmented in mice pretreated with CpdB. In a two-choice test using an HFD and a low-fat diet, CpdB selectively inhibited intake of the HFD in normal mice. Administration of CpdB to HFD-fed ob/ob mice for 5 weeks suppressed food intake and body weight gain and inhibited elevation of glycated hemoglobin. These results indicate that pharmacological MGAT2 inhibition modulates fat-induced gut peptide release and fat intake in normal mice and improves obesity and diabetes in HFD-fed ob/ob mice and thus may have potential for development into a treatment of obesity and its related metabolic diseases.