The PDE-4 Inhibitor Roflumilast reduces weight gain, enhances insulin sensitivity and prevents hepatic steatosis in mice by increasing mitochondrogenesis

Purpose: Roflumilast is a new PDE-4 inhibitor with anti-inflammatory properties which is clinically used to reduce the exacerbation of chronic bronchitis. Interestingly, roflumilast was also found to reduce body weight and improve glucose metabolism of humans with yet elusive mechanism. Methods and Results: We therefore treated C57BL/6 mice on western diet (n = 15/group) for a period of 12 weeks with roflumilast (added to the diet). This treatment did lead to a significant reduction in body weight (28 g vs. 32 g, p < 0.001) despite a trend to increased food consumption in the roflumilast group. This was parallel…