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Gut Peptides: Targets for Antiobesity Drug Development?

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Timothy H. Moran, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Ross 618, 720 Rutland Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21205. E-mail: tmoran{at}jhmi.edu.

Gut peptides play multiple roles in the controls of gastrointestinal function and in the initiation and termination of meals. Plasma levels of these peptides are differentially affected by the presence of nutrients in the digestive tract, and the patterns of peptide release are consistent with both their feeding stimulatory and inhibitory actions. A number of these peptide systems have been investigated as potential targets for antiobesity drug development. Progress has been made in developing long-acting peptide analogs and, in some cases, nonpeptide agonists and antagonists. Whether any individual approach will have significant long-term efficacy remains to be demonstrated. Approaches that target multiple systems may hold the most promise.