Author(s)

Chi-Fai Lo^1,2,3

¹Institute of Theoretical Physics and Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
²Department of Psychology, Sociology and Politics, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield S1 1WB, United Kingdom.
³Social and Human Sciences Section, SCOPE, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Obesity has created a very serious public health problem, and World Health Organisation has actually warned that there is an urgent need for multinational cooperation to stem the rise of obesity. More than 20 years ago the discovery of Leptin, which is an adipocyte-secreted hormone and primarily acts on the hypothalamic neurons to activate the regulation of energy homeostasis, created much interest in its potential use for the treatment of obesity, but the hope was soon lost after leptin failed to counteract common diet-induced obesity. In recent years some preclinical studies have surprisingly demonstrated that resistance to leptin can be reversed and the effects of leptin therapy can be amplified by several leptin sensitisers. This paper will critically discuss the plausible revival of leptin for obesity therapy with reference to research findings on various influencing factors contributing to the level of expression and secretion of leptin.

Obesity, Energy Homeostasis, Leptin Difficency, Leptin Resistance, Leptin Sensitisers, Leptin Receptors

Lo, C. (2018) Critically Discuss the Revival of Leptin for Obesity Therapy. Psychology, 9, 217-228. doi: 10.4236/psych.2018.92014.