Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity (May 2020)
Repurposing Disulfiram as an Anti-Obesity Drug: Treating and Preventing Obesity in High-Fat-Fed Rats
Abstract
Ziad Omran,1 Ryan Sheikh,2 Othman A Baothman,2 Mazin A Zamzami,2 Mohamed Alarjah1 1College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 21955, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 2Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Ziad OmranCollege of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Al-Abidiyya, Makkah 21955, Kingdom of Saudi ArabiaTel +966 5 46461441Email [email protected] and Objectives: A drug repurposing strategy is an approach for identifying new therapeutic uses for approved or investigational drugs. Thanks to the moderate cost of repurposing a drug compared to bringing new chemical entity to the market, drug repurposing is rapidly gaining ground. The aim of this work is to study the anti-obesity effect of disulfiram (DSF), an irreversible aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitor approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat chronic alcoholism since 1951.Methods: Thirty male Albino rats were randomly assigned to six groups. G1, the control group, was given a standard diet. G2, the positive control group, was given a high-fat diet (HFD). G3 was given an HFD, and DSF 50 mg/kg/day was administered orally from day one for six weeks. G4 was given an HFD, and DSF 200 mg/kg/day was administered orally from day one for six weeks. G5 was given an HFD for six weeks; then treatment started with 50 mg/kg/day DSF orally. G6 was given an HFD for six weeks; then treatment started with 200 mg/kg/day DSF orally for three weeks. The body weight, food consumption and blood glucose levels were monitored over the given time interval.Results: Both doses of DSF significantly limited the body weight gain caused by an HFD for the treated animals. HF-fed rats received 50 and 200 mg/kg/day of DSF had their body weight increased by 51.93 ± 7.89% and 20.88 ± 15.05% respectively, whereas the body weight of control animals increased by 93.1 ± 20.04%. DSF also significantly decreased the body weight of obese animals. At 50 and 200 mg/kg/day of DSF, HF-fed rats lost 16.74 ± 8.61% and 23.9 ± 3.93% respectively, as their untreated counterparts had their body weight increased by 11.85 ± 3.79% after three weeks of treatment, thus restoring a body weight matching those who received a standard diet.Conclusion: FDA-approved disulfiram has a strong anti-obesity effect on HFD-fed rats.Keywords: obesity, drug repurposing, Aldh1a1, disulfiram
