Olive leaf extract prevents obesity, cognitive decline, and depression and improves exercise capacity in mice

Obesity is a risk factor for development of metabolic diseases and cognitive decline; therefore, obesity prevention is of paramount importance. Neuronal mitochondrial dysfunction induced by oxidative stress is an important mechanism underlying cognitive decline. Olive leaf extract contains large amounts of oleanolic acid, a transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor 5 (TGR5) agonist, and oleuropein, an antioxidant. Activation of TGR5 results in enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis, which suggests that olive leaf extract may help prevent cognitive decline through its mitochondrial and antioxidant effects. Therefore, we investigated olive leaf extract’s effects on obesity, cognitive decline, depression, and endurance exercise capacity in a mouse model. In physically inactive mice fed a high-fat diet, olive leaf extract administration suppressed increases in fat mass and body weight and prevented cognitive declines, specifically decreased working memory and depressive behaviors. Additionally, olive leaf extract increased endurance exercise capacity under atmospheric and hypoxic conditions. Our study suggests that these promising effects may be related to oleanolic acid’s improvement of mitochondrial function and oleuropein’s increase of antioxidant capacity.