Preprint Review Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Harnessing Oleanolic Acid as A Modulator of Metabolic Nuclear Receptors

Mohamed O. Radwan
* ,
Sultan F. Kadasah
ORCID logo ,
Salha M. Aljubiri
,
Abdulmajeed F. Alrefaei
ORCID logo ,
Mahmoud H. El-Maghrabey
,
Mohamed A. El Hamd
* ORCID logo ,
Hiroshi Tateishi
ORCID logo ,
Masami Otsuka
ORCID logo ,
Mikako Fujita
* ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 19 September 2023 / Approved: 19 September 2023 / Online: 21 September 2023 (03:12:08 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Radwan, M.O.; Kadasah, S.F.; Aljubiri, S.M.; Alrefaei, A.F.; El-Maghrabey, M.H.; El Hamd, M.A.; Tateishi, H.; Otsuka, M.; Fujita, M. Harnessing Oleanolic Acid and Its Derivatives as Modulators of Metabolic Nuclear Receptors. Biomolecules 2023, 13, 1465. Radwan, M.O.; Kadasah, S.F.; Aljubiri, S.M.; Alrefaei, A.F.; El-Maghrabey, M.H.; El Hamd, M.A.; Tateishi, H.; Otsuka, M.; Fujita, M. Harnessing Oleanolic Acid and Its Derivatives as Modulators of Metabolic Nuclear Receptors. Biomolecules 2023, 13, 1465.

Abstract

Nuclear receptors (NRs) constitute a superfamily of ligand-activated transcription factors with a paramount role in ubiquitous physiological functions such as metabolism, growth, and reproduction. Owing to their physiological role and druggability, NRs are deemed attractive and valid targets for medicinal chemists. Pentacyclic triterpenes (PTs) represent one of the most important phytochemical classes present in higher plants, where oleanolic acid (OA) is the most studied PTs representative owing to its multitude of biological activities against cancer, inflammation, diabetes, and liver injury. PTs possess a lipophilic skeleton that imitates the NRs endogenous ligands. Herein, we report a literature overview on the modulation of metabolic NRs by OA and its semi-synthetic derivatives, highlighting their health benefits and potential therapeutic applications. Indeed, OA exhibited varying pharmacological effects on FXR, PPAR, LXR, RXR, PXR, and ROR in a tissue-specific manner. Owing to those NRs modulation, OA exhibited prominent hepatoprotective properties comparable to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in a bile duct ligation mice model and antiatherosclerosis effect as simvastatin in a model of New Zealand white (NZW) rabbits. It also demonstrated a great promise in alleviating non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and liver fibrosis, attenuated alpha-naphthol isothiocyanate (ANIT)-induced cholestatic liver injury, and controlled blood glucose levels, making it a key player in the therapy of metabolic diseases. We also compiled OA semi-synthetic derivatives and explored their synthetic pathways and pharmacological effects on NRs, showcasing their structure-activity relationship (SAR). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first review article to highlight OA activity in terms of NRs modulation.

Keywords

oleanolic acid; nuclear receptors; metabolic disorders; NASH; farnesoid X receptor; liver X receptor; peroxisome-proliferator activated receptors

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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