Control of obesity through the regulation of appetite

Obesity is fast tightening its grip on humanity and is threatening to become one of the greatest threats to global health of the new millennium. There is a pressing need to understand the biochemical pathways that control energy homeostasis and to determine the potential to which they can be exploited in the treatment of obesity. This article reviews current candidate drug targets of the appetite-regulating gut–brain axis, and the extent of their exploitation as therapeutic approaches to the treatment of obesity. Some candidates that appeared promising a few years ago, such as leptin and Neuropeptide Y (NPY) Y5 receptor antagonists, do not appear to have met expectations.