Galantamine alleviates inflammation and other obesity-associated complications in high-fat diet-fed mice

Obesity, a serious and growing health threat, is associated with low-grade inflammation that plays a role in mediating its adverse consequences. Previously, we have discovered a role for neural cholinergic signaling in controlling inflammation, and demonstrated that the cholinergic agent galantamine suppresses excessive proinflammatory cytokine release. The main objective of this study was to examine the efficacy of galantamine, a clinically-approved drug, in alleviating obesity-related inflammation and associated complications. After 8 wks on a high-fat diet, C57BL/6J mice were treated with either galantamine (4 mg/kg, intraperitoneally [i.p.]) or saline for 4 wks in parallel with mice on a low-fat diet and treated with saline. Galantamine treatment of obese mice significantly reduced body weight, food intake, abdominal adiposity, plasma cytokine and adipokine levels, and significantly improved blood glucose, insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis. In addition, galantamine alleviated impaired insulin sensitivity and glucose intolerance significantly. These results indicate a previously unrecognized potential of galantamine in alleviating obesity, inflammation and other obesity-related complications in mice. These findings are of interest for studying the efficacy of this clinically-approved drug in the context of human obesity and metabolic syndrome.