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REVIEW article

Front. Endocrinol.

Sec. Obesity

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1569468

This article is part of the Research TopicTransforming Obesity Care: Personalized Strategies for High-Potency Weight-Loss MedicationsView all articles

Pharmacotherapy for obesity: Are we ready to select, tailor and combine pharmacotherapy to achieve more ambitious goals?

Provisionally accepted
Nele SteenackersNele Steenackers1,2*Julia ToumaziaJulia Toumazia2Ellen DeleusEllen Deleus2,3Ann MertensAnn Mertens2,4Matthias LannooMatthias Lannoo2,3Sofia PazminoSofia Pazmino2Amar daniel emanuel Van laarAmar daniel emanuel Van laar2Bart Van der SchuerenBart Van der Schueren2,4Roman VangoitsenhovemRoman Vangoitsenhovem2,4
  • 1School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands, Netherlands
  • 2Clinical and Experimental Endocrinology, Department of Chronic Diseases and Metabolism, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
  • 3Department of Abdominal Surgery, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
  • 4Department of Endocrinology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Brussels, Belgium

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Recent advancements in obesity pharmacotherapy have seen the approval of novel agents, like glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist and dual agonists, offering unprecedented efficacy for obesity management. However, treatment outcomes remain highly variable, necessitating a more personalized approach to pharmacotherapy tailored to individual profiles. This review evaluates the current landscape of obesity pharmacotherapy, while exploring factors influencing variability in treatment response including early response predictors, genetic markers, and physiological traits. Additionally, the potential of combining treatment modalities and some emerging drugs are highlighted. Finally, a stepwise algorithm is proposed for personalized obesity treatment, integrating comorbidities, phenotypes, and responses to medication, paving the way for more effective and efficient obesity management.

Keywords: Obesity, Obesity pharmacotherapy, precision medicine, personalized treatment, combination therapy, Weight Management, Weight Loss

Received: 31 Jan 2025; Accepted: 27 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Steenackers, Toumazia, Deleus, Mertens, Lannoo, Pazmino, Van laar, Van der Schueren and Vangoitsenhovem. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Nele Steenackers, School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, 6229 ER, Netherlands, Netherlands

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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