Herbal-Derived Anti-obesity Compounds and Their Action Mechanisms

Recent researches demonstrated the potential of phytochemicals to prevent and to counteract obesity. Multiple combinations of phytochemicals can result in a synergistic activity that increases their bioavailability and action on multiple molecular targets, offering advantages over chemical treatments. Herbal-derived compounds have potential for controlling appetite, inhibiting pancreatic lipase activity, stimulating thermogenesis and lipid metabolism, promoting lipolysis and adipogenesis, and inducing apoptosis in adipocytes. Appetite reduction and inhibiting pancreatic lipase activity represent the first line in the regulation of body weight. Stimulating lipolysis and thermogenesis represents an essential target for the development of anti-obesity drugs. Furthermore, targeting adipocyte life cycle using various dietary bioactives that affects different stages of adipocyte life cycle represents also an important target for the development of new anti-obesity drugs. In this regard, different stages of adipocyte development that are targeted by anti-obesity drugs can include preadipocytes, maturing preadipocytes, and mature adipocytes. Various herbal-derived active compounds, such as genistein, daidzein, cyanidin, proanthocyanidin, xanthohumol, apigenin and luteolin, kaempferol, myricetin, quercetin, epigallocatechin gallate, conjugated linoleic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, quercetin, resveratrol, and ajoene, affect adipocytes during specific stages of development, resulting in either the induction of apoptosis or inhibition of adipogenesis. Although numerous molecular targets that can be used for both treatment and prevention of obesity have been identified, targeted single cellular receptor or pathway has resulted in limited success. Therefore, targeting several cellular pathways simultaneously with multiple phytochemicals to achieve synergistic effects might be an appropriate approach in the management of obesity.