Current pharmacological approaches in obesity treatment

Abstract

Obesity is a complex disorder and affected by so many factors in which the balance between food consumption and calorie usage is disrupted. Drugs that act on appetite, food intake, calorie absorption or calorie consumption, or a combination of these, are basically central or peripheral agents. Diethylpropion and phentermine are preferred for short-term obesity treatment. Orlistat, lorcaserin, topiramate/phentermine, naltrexone/bupropion, and liraglutide are preferred for long-term obesity treatment. The main drugs whose experimental and clinical phase studies are still ongoing are setmelanotide, zonisamide/bupropion, neuropeptide Y antagonists, semaglutide and oral glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, cannabinoid type-1 receptor inhibitors, amylin mimetics, amylin/calcitonin receptor activators, glucose-linked insulin-like acting peptide analogues, dual-acting glucagon-like peptide-1/glucagon receptor agonists, peptide YY, leptin analogues, beloranib, cetilistat, tenofensin, fibroblast growth factor-21 and obesity vaccines. While managing the treatment of an obese patient, considering the large costs of the disease and the high incidence of disorder, pharmacotherapeutic agents are not enough to meet the clinic spectrum like adverse effects and contraindications, but new drugs and studies in this field offer hope to the medical world in terms of efficacy and safety profile. However, it would not be rational to expect miracles from drugs without a change in lifestyle in the magement of this disorder.