Obesity: The Metabolic Disease, Advances on Drug Discovery and Natural Product Research

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.

The Marine Seagrass Halophila stipulacea as a Source of Bioactive Metabolites against Obesity and Biofouling

“…In summary, data indicate that the Nile red fat metabolism assay in zebrafish larvae is an interesting preclinical screening model in live whole organisms. Castro et al [27] reported that plants are the main source of natural compounds with anti-obesity properties, and the majority of these compounds belong to the phenols and polyphenols class. The screening of a library of polyphenol derivatives identified compounds with strong lipid reducing activity in the zebrafish Nile red fat metabolism assay [20].…”

Metabolic Disorder in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Patients: Towards a Personalized Approach Using Marine Drug Derivatives

“…Indeed, fish oils are marine-derived products that have been in use for millennia. Actually, several reviews on this topic have been published [52,53,54,55,56,57,58]. Different marines organisms (from fishes such as salmon and herring, to krill and squid) contain so-called “marine ω-3 fatty acids” and specifically eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5 n -3), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA; 22:5 n -3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6 n -3) [59].…”

Tenebrio molitor Larvae Inhibit Adipogenesis through AMPK and MAPKs Signaling in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes and Obesity in High-Fat Diet-Induced Obese Mice

“…Many researchers have reported the presence of natural bioactive substances in a variety of sources such as plants, marine algae, and insects [1,8,9,10,11,12]. For example, plant extracts including polyphenols, resveratrol, curcumin, and proanthocyanidins, have become increasingly popular in the past decades for their anti-adipogenic properties [1,13,14].…”