Title:A New Strategy for Obesity Treatment: Revealing the Frontiers of Anti-obesity Medications
Volume: 25
Issue: 1
Author(s): Pan-Feng Huang, Qi-Yu Wang, Rong-Bin Chen, Ya-Di Wang, Yuan-Yuan Wang, Jiang-Hua Liu, Xin-Hua Xiao*Zhe-Zhen Liao
Affiliation:
- Department of Metabolism and Endocrinology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, Hunan, China
Keywords:
Obesity, drug repurposing, drug reuse, drug repositioning, pharmacotherapy, type 2 diabetes.
Abstract: Obesity dramatically increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, fatty liver,
hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, causing both declines in quality of
life and life expectancy, which is a serious worldwide epidemic. At present, more and
more patients with obesity are choosing drug therapy. However, given the high failure
rate, high cost, and long design and testing process for discovering and developing
new anti-obesity drugs, drug repurposing could be an innovative method and
opportunity to broaden and improve pharmacological tools in this context. Because
different diseases share molecular pathways and targets in the cells, anti-obesity drugs
discovered in other fields are a viable option for treating obesity. Recently, some drugs
initially developed for other diseases, such as treating diabetes, tumors, depression,
alcoholism, erectile dysfunction, and Parkinson's disease, have been found to exert
potential anti-obesity effects, which provides another treatment prospect. In this
review, we will discuss the potential benefits and barriers associated with these drugs
being used as obesity medications by focusing on their mechanisms of action when
treating obesity. This could be a viable strategy for treating obesity as a significant
advance in human health.
