Oncostatin M is a potential agent for the treatment of obesity and related metabolic disorders: a study in mice.

Aims/hypothesis: Obesity and insulin resistance are closely associated with adipose tissue dysfunction caused by the abnormal recruitment of inflammatory cells, including macrophages. Oncostatin M (OSM), a member of the IL-6 family of cytokines, plays important roles in a variety of biological functions including the regulation of inflammatory responses. In previous reports, we have demonstrated that mice deficient in the OSM receptor β subunit show obesity, adipose tissue inflammation, insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis, all of which are exacerbated by feeding the mice a high-fat diet. These results prompted us to test the therapeutic effects of OSM on obesity-induced metabolic disorders using mouse models of obesity.

Methods: In diet-induced obese and ob/ob mice, metabolic variables were assessed physiologically, histologically and biochemically after the intraperitoneal injection of recombinant mouse OSM twice a day for 1 week.

Results: Treatment with OSM improved obesity, adipose tissue inflammation, insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis in both mouse models. Although OSM reduced food intake, such therapeutic effects of OSM were observed even under pair-feeding conditions. Functionally, OSM directly changed the phenotype of adipose tissue macrophages from M1 type (inflammatory) to M2 type (anti-inflammatory). In the liver, OSM suppressed the expression of genes related to fatty acid synthesis and increased the expression of genes related to fatty acid oxidation. Furthermore, OSM decreased lipid absorption and increased the expression of active glucagon-like peptide-1 in the intestine.

Conclusions/interpretation: We showed that OSM is a novel candidate to act as a powerful therapeutic agent for the treatment of obesity-induced metabolic disorders.