Fig. 1: Artesunate induces weight loss in obese mice by suppression of food intake.

A–C Wild-type mice were treated with vehicle or artesunate (ART; 5 mg/kg or 20 mg/kg) during high-fat diet (HFD) challenge for 60 days A Changes in body weight of mice during HFD feeding B 8-day cumulative food intake of mice measured at week 8 upon HFD challenge C weights of inguinal white adipose tissue (iWAT) and epididymal white adipose tissue (eWAT) of mice at the end of HFD challenge (n = 8 per group) D–F Wild-type mice with diet-induced obesity (DIO) were therapeutically treated with vehicle or ART (20 mg/kg) for 13 days. D Changes in body weight of mice during the treatment E 8-day cumulative food intake of mice over the treatment period F weights of iWAT and eWAT in mice at the end of treatment (n = 5 per group) G, H Pair-fed animals were provided with the amount of food equivalent to the average intake for the ART-treated mice (20 mg/kg). The control group was allowed ad libitum access to food. G Changes in body weight during pair-feeding caloric restriction. H weights of iWAT and eWAT in pair-fed mice and corresponding controls at the end of pair-feeding (n = 5 per group). Data are expressed as mean ± SEM; one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test (C), two-way ANOVA followed by Šídák multiple comparison post-hoc test (A, B; D; E; G) or two-tailed unpaired Student’s t-test (F, H). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.