Abstract
Obesity is a global health threat. OECD reported that more than half (52%) of the adult population in the European Union is overweight or obese. Obesity and obesity-related co-morbidities have deep negative effects on morbidity, mortality, professional and personal quality of life. Healthcare costs represent a negative impact of this disease, with an associated economic cost of 100 billion US$ per year in the United States. The most prescribed drugs for obesity treatment worldwide are orlistat, and phentermine/topiramate extended release, while the major prescribed drug for the same disease in the US are exenatide and dapagliflozin. The so far developed drugs, targeting weight loss, have a long history of malignant secondary effects. There is still a lack of efficient and safe drugs to treat obesity and related metabolic complications since in many cases cure cannot be reached by bariatric surgery or healthy lifestyle habits. Terrestrial and aquatic organisms are a promising source of valuable, bioactive compounds, often with interest for human health. Some of the natural compounds or organisms have been used for centuries by humans as traditional medicine foods. In this review, we give insights into the adipose tissue function and development, and the progress in traditional anti-obesity pharmacotherapy. A major focus is to highlight the state of the art of natural compounds with anti-obesity properties and their potential as candidates for drug development; an overview is given about natural compounds derived from different marine animal sources, cyanobacteria, marine phytoplankton, fungus or plants.
Keywords: Obesity, Metabolic disease, Diabetes, Natural products, Pharmacotherapy, Anti-obesity, Secondary metabolites.
Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry
Title:Obesity: The Metabolic Disease, Advances on Drug Discovery and Natural Product Research
Volume: 16 Issue: 23
Author(s): Mafalda Castro, Marco Preto, Vitor Vasconcelos and Ralph Urbatzka
Affiliation:
Keywords: Obesity, Metabolic disease, Diabetes, Natural products, Pharmacotherapy, Anti-obesity, Secondary metabolites.
Abstract: Obesity is a global health threat. OECD reported that more than half (52%) of the adult population in the European Union is overweight or obese. Obesity and obesity-related co-morbidities have deep negative effects on morbidity, mortality, professional and personal quality of life. Healthcare costs represent a negative impact of this disease, with an associated economic cost of 100 billion US$ per year in the United States. The most prescribed drugs for obesity treatment worldwide are orlistat, and phentermine/topiramate extended release, while the major prescribed drug for the same disease in the US are exenatide and dapagliflozin. The so far developed drugs, targeting weight loss, have a long history of malignant secondary effects. There is still a lack of efficient and safe drugs to treat obesity and related metabolic complications since in many cases cure cannot be reached by bariatric surgery or healthy lifestyle habits. Terrestrial and aquatic organisms are a promising source of valuable, bioactive compounds, often with interest for human health. Some of the natural compounds or organisms have been used for centuries by humans as traditional medicine foods. In this review, we give insights into the adipose tissue function and development, and the progress in traditional anti-obesity pharmacotherapy. A major focus is to highlight the state of the art of natural compounds with anti-obesity properties and their potential as candidates for drug development; an overview is given about natural compounds derived from different marine animal sources, cyanobacteria, marine phytoplankton, fungus or plants.
Export Options
About this article
Cite this article as:
Castro Mafalda, Preto Marco, Vasconcelos Vitor and Urbatzka Ralph, Obesity: The Metabolic Disease, Advances on Drug Discovery and Natural Product Research, Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry 2016; 16 (23) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1568026616666160415155644
DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1568026616666160415155644 |
Print ISSN 1568-0266 |
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher |
Online ISSN 1873-4294 |
Call for Papers in Thematic Issues
Adaptogens—History and Future Perspectives
Adaptogens are pharmacologically active compounds or plant extracts that are associated with the ability to enhance the body’s stability against stress. The intake of adaptogens is associated not only with a better ability to adapt to stress and maintain or normalise metabolic functions but also with better mental and physical ...read more
AlphaFold in Medicinal Chemistry: Opportunities and Challenges
AlphaFold, a groundbreaking AI tool for protein structure prediction, is revolutionizing drug discovery. Its near-atomic accuracy unlocks new avenues for designing targeted drugs and performing efficient virtual screening. However, AlphaFold's static predictions lack the dynamic nature of proteins, crucial for understanding drug action. This is especially true for multi-domain proteins, ...read more
Artificial intelligence for Natural Products Discovery and Development
Our approach involves using computational methods to predict the potential therapeutic benefits of natural products by considering factors such as drug structure, targets, and interactions. We also employ multitarget analysis to understand the role of drug targets in disease pathways. We advocate for the use of artificial intelligence in predicting ...read more
Chemistry Based on Natural Products for Therapeutic Purposes
The development of new pharmaceuticals for a wide range of medical conditions has long relied on the identification of promising natural products (NPs). There are over sixty percent of cancer, infectious illness, and CNS disease medications that include an NP pharmacophore, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Since NP ...read more
- Author Guidelines
- Graphical Abstracts
- Fabricating and Stating False Information
- Research Misconduct
- Post Publication Discussions and Corrections
- Publishing Ethics and Rectitude
- Increase Visibility of Your Article
- Archiving Policies
- Peer Review Workflow
- Order Your Article Before Print
- Promote Your Article
- Manuscript Transfer Facility
- Editorial Policies
- Allegations from Whistleblowers
- Announcements
Related Articles
-
Anabolics in Osteoporosis: The Emerging Therapeutic Tool
Current Molecular Medicine Skin Cancers in Elderly Patients
Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry Molecular Markers of Glioblastoma and the Potential for Integration with Imaging: the Future for Assigning Prognosis and Best Treatment Strategy
Current Molecular Imaging (Discontinued) Solenostemma argel: A Rich Source of Very Unusual Pregnane and 14,15- Secopregnane Glycosides with Antiproliferative Activity
Current Organic Chemistry Development of Hedgehog Pathway Inhibitors (HPI) in Treatment of Cancer
Current Chemical Biology Nanoemulsion Encapsulation and In Vitro SLN Models of Delivery for Cytotoxic Methotrexate
Current Drug Discovery Technologies Radiopharmaceuticals to In Vivo Characterize Adrenal Incidentalomas:The Integrated Role of Radionuclide and Radiological Techniques
Current Radiopharmaceuticals Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Tetracyclines: Applications to Human Disease
Anti-Inflammatory & Anti-Allergy Agents in Medicinal Chemistry Anti-cancer Potential of <i>Hypericum</i> spp. with Focus on <i>Hypericum Perforatum</i>: A Review of the Literature
Current Traditional Medicine Applied Proteomics in Companion Animal Medicine
Current Proteomics Targeted Cancer Therapeutics: Biosynthetic and Energetic Pathways Characterized by Metabolomics and the Interplay with Key Cancer Regulatory Factors
Current Pharmaceutical Design <i>Click</i> Reaction in the Synthesis of Dendrimer Drug-delivery Systems
Current Medicinal Chemistry Development of Small-Molecule Inhibitors of Raf
Recent Patents on Anti-Infective Drug Discovery Natural Products in Structure-Assisted Design of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics
Current Pharmaceutical Design Iron Chelators for the Treatment of Cancer
Current Medicinal Chemistry Drug-induced Cardiac Mitochondrial Toxicity and Protection: From Doxorubicin to Carvedilol
Current Pharmaceutical Design Indazole Derivatives: Promising Anti-tumor Agents
Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry Mining for Protein Kinase Substrates: Integration of Biochemistry, Genetics and Proteomics
Current Proteomics Brachytherapy: State of the Art and Possible Improvements
Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry Soft Matter Assemblies as Nanomedicine Platforms for Cancer Chemotherapy: A Journey from Market Products Towards Novel Approaches
Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry