Peptides from Natural or Rationally Designed Sources Can Be Used in Overweight, Obesity, and Type 2 Diabetes Therapies

Abstract

Overweight and obesity are among the most prominent health problems in the modern world, mostly because they are either associated with or increase the risk of other diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and/or cancer. Most professional organizations define overweight and obesity according to individual body-mass index (BMI, weight in kilograms divided by height squared in meters). Overweight is defined as individuals with BMI from 25 to 29, and obesity as individuals with BMI ≥30. Obesity is the result of genetic, behavioral, environmental, physiological, social, and cultural factors that result in energy imbalance and promote excessive fat deposition. Despite all the knowledge concerning the pathophysiology of obesity, which is considered a disease, none of the existing treatments alone or in combination can normalize blood glucose concentration and prevent debilitating complications from obesity. This review discusses some new perspectives for overweight and obesity treatments, including the use of the new orally active cannabinoid peptide Pep19, the advantage of which is the absence of undesired central nervous system effects usually experienced with other cannabinoids.

Keywords: Pep19; hemopressin; intracellular peptides; obesity; overweight; type 2 diabetes.

Figure 1

Schematic diagram illustrating neuropeptides. Continuous lines represent anorexigenic peptides that promote satiety; discontinuous lines represent orexigenic peptides that promote hunger. NPY: neuropeptide Y; PYY: peptide YY; PP: pancreatic polypeptide; GLP-1: glucagon-like 1.

Figure 2

Summary of the main effects of bioactive peptides from food on obesity and related metabolic disturbances.