Recent evidence in support of traditional chinese medicine to restore normal leptin function in simple obesity

Jialin Shao; Chen Li; Litao Bai; Xiaolin Ni; Shaoqin Ge; Jinghui Zhang; Hanqing Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09482

Recent evidence in support of traditional chinese medicine to restore normal leptin function in simple obesity

Heliyon. 2022 May 19;8(5):e09482. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09482. eCollection 2022 May.

Authors

Jialin Shao¹, Chen Li², Litao Bai³, Xiaolin Ni^{4

5

6}, Shaoqin Ge¹, Jinghui Zhang¹, Hanqing Zhao¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hebei University, Baoding, PR China.
² Institute of Information on Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, PR China.
³ The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, PR China.
⁴ The Key Laboratory of Geriatrics, Beijing Institute of Geriatrics, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, National Health Commission, Beijing, PR China.
⁵ Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, PR China.
⁶ Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, PR China.

Abstract

Reducing the incidence of obesity is the focus of global attention, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) may play an important role in achieving this goal. Numerous studies have shown that most individuals with obesity have leptin resistance, exogenous leptin is ineffective in individuals with obesity, and the effect of leptin decreases with increased serum leptin levels in individuals with obesity. At present, there are many hypotheses regarding the mechanism of leptin resistance, but there is no definite conclusion. TCM has a long history of treating obesity, and single and compound TCM is an effective obesity treatment method. However, TCM's mechanism of action is complex and resists further weight loss drug development. In the last decade, network pharmacology has become an important tool for exploring the mechanism of compound TCMs. In this study, we reviewed the interrelation between TCM obesity treatment and leptin resistance, and network pharmacology studies of TCM intervention in simple obesity revealed that their targets overlap with the leptin pathway. We also summarized TCM pairs that effectively interfere with leptin resistance and their related intervention mechanisms, providing targets for anti-obesity drug development.

Keywords: Chinese herbal compound; Food intake; Leptin resistance; Network pharmacology; Obesity.

Publication types

Review