Novel lipid-mimetic prodrugs delivering active compounds to adipose tissue

Obesity and associated pathologies are a dramatically growing problem. New therapies to prevent and/or cure them are strongly needed. Adipose tissue is a logical target for pharmacological intervention, since it is now recognized to exert an important endocrine function, secreting a variety of adipokines affecting, for example, adiposity and insulin resistance. This proof of principle work focuses on the development of novel lipid-mimetic prodrugs reaching fat deposits by the same lymphatic absorption route followed by dietary triglycerides. Pterostilbene, a natural phenolic compound with potential anti-obesity effects, was used as model "cargo", attached via a carbamate group to an ?-aminodecanoate chain linked to either position 1 or position 2 of the glycerol moiety of synthetic triglycerides. The prodrugs underwent position-selective hydrolysis when challenged with pancreatic lipases in vitro. Pterostilbene-containing triglycerides as well as pterostilbene and its metabolites were present in the adipose tissue of mice fed an obesogenic diet containing one or the other of the derivatives. For the first time this approach is used to deliver an obesity antagonist to the adipose tissue. The results demonstrate the feasibility of delivering active compounds to adipose tissue by reversibly incorporating them into triglyceride-mimetic structures. Upon release in the target site these compounds are expected to exert their pharmacological activity precisely where needed.