Control of obesity through the regulation of appetite

Peter Warner – Astra Zeneca, Mereside, Alderley Park, Macclesfield, chestire SK10 4TG, UK Obesity is a rapidly increasing problem that will become a huge threat to global health unless major breakthroughs in therapy are identified during the next decade or so. Currently available drug therapies have relatively limited efficacy, and several promising drug targets that have been studied extensively in recent years, such as NPY-5 and leptin, have failed to deliver new drugs. This review addresses the currently most exciting molecular mechanisms implicated in appetite regulation, and discusses the latest clinical data emerging from therapies based on the modulation of the cannabinoid receptor CB1. Professor Williams and his co-authors are leaders in the field with particular expertise in the study of the impact of the gut–brain axis on appetite.