Opaganib Protects Against High-Fat Diet-Induced Hypercholesterolemia and Liver Steatosis in Mice

Introduction

Sphingolipid metabolism is involved in many diseases including cancer, pathologic inflammation, viral infection, neuropathology and metabolic disorders, including obesity and diabetes. Opaganib inhibits the key enzymes sphingosine kinase-2 and dihydroceramide desaturase and has anticancer, anti-inflammatory and antiviral activities in multiple experimental models. Opaganib has been studied in clinical trials with nearly 500 patients having cancer or severe Covid-19 and demonstrated an excellent safety profile. We recently showed that opaganib protects against high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and glucose intolerance in mice. In the present studies, the effects of oral administration of opaganib for 12 weeks to already obese C57BL/6 mice fed HFD were further assessed.