title: New Targets for Drug Treatment of Obesity.
abstract: Antiobesity medical management has shown unsatisfactory results to date in terms of efficacy, safety, and long-term maintenance of weight loss. This poor performance could be attributed to the complexity of appetite regulation mechanisms; the serious drug side effects; and, crucially, the lack of profile-matching treatment strategies and individualized, multidisciplinary follow-up. Nevertheless, antiobesity pharmacotherapy remains a challenging, exciting field of intensive scientific interest. According to the latest studies, the future of bariatric medicine lies in developing drugs acting at multiple levels of the brain-gut axis. Currently, research is focused on the generation of combination treatments based on gut hormones in a way that mimics changes underlying surgically induced weight loss, in addition to centrally acting agents; these aim to restore energy balance disruptions and enhance energy expenditure. Collectively, the pharmacological resolution of obesity could potentially be achieved with combination regimens targeting different molecules and levels of the energy homeostasis system, in parallel with matching patients' needs, resulting in a favorable metabolic profile.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Endocrinology, Diabetes Mellitus and Metabolism, Aretaieio University Hospital, Athens Medical School, Athens 11528, Greece; email: gedvalsamakis@yahoo.com , panagiotaki05@hotmail.com , mastorakg@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Georgios
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Valsamakis
authors.affiliation: Unit of Endocrinology, Diabetes Mellitus and Metabolism, Aretaieio University Hospital, Athens Medical School, Athens 11528, Greece; email: gedvalsamakis@yahoo.com , panagiotaki05@hotmail.com , mastorakg@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Panagiota
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Konstantakou
authors.affiliation: Unit of Endocrinology, Diabetes Mellitus and Metabolism, Aretaieio University Hospital, Athens Medical School, Athens 11528, Greece; email: gedvalsamakis@yahoo.com , panagiotaki05@hotmail.com , mastorakg@gmail.com.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mastorakos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism*; D001069:Appetite Regulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D005768:Gastrointestinal Hormones / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism*; D036361:Peptide Hormones / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents; D005768:Gastrointestinal Hormones; D036361:Peptide Hormones
keywords: adiposity; amylin; energy homeostasis; glucagon-like peptide 1; hypothalamus; leptin