About this Research Topic
The obesity epidemic and its associated medical complications increase the risk for depression, type 2 diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and COVID-related hospitalizations. Discovery of the fat-derived hormone leptin generated excitement as a weight loss therapy, until it became clear that because of obesity-associated leptin resistance, leptin does not reliably lower body weight in humans with obesity. Existing therapies to elicit weight loss are largely unsuccessful or poorly tolerated, and there is an urgent need to develop newer, more effective strategies. Some of the current pharmacologic therapies to treat obesity, such as Contrave (naltrexone hydrochloride/bupropion hydrochloride) and Qsymia (phentermine/topiramate), can worsen depression and impact sleep.
While major advances in obesity pharmacotherapy have been made with the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, semaglutide, it has also been associated with adverse gastrointestinal side effects, including diarrhea and nausea. Thus, multi-drug therapies, aimed at suppressing food intake and/or increasing energy expenditure at subthreshold or low-dose combinations, may be required as successful weight loss strategies. While the nonapeptide, oxytocin (OT), is recognized for its role in osmoregulation, and reproductive and prosocial behavior, it has garnered recent interest as a potential therapy to treat autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, and obesity. OT is an attractive therapeutic agent to treat obesity because it reduces body weight in diet-induced obese (DIO) rodents, even in the presence of leptin resistance, and elicits cardioprotective effects in genetically obese rodents.
The purpose of this Research Topic is to highlight findings pertaining to the role of oxytocin in the control of body weight and discuss its effects on homeostatic/reward feeding and energy expenditure/body composition in DIO and genetically obese rodents as well as non-human primates and humans who are overweight or obese. We conclude by discussing current gaps, inconsistencies, and some of the ongoing challenges that remain in order for OT-based therapeutics to be used as a long-term strategy to treat obesity in humans.
We welcome the submission of Original Research articles, Systematic Reviews, Reviews, and Mini Reviews describing both basic research and human studies including, but not limited to, the following areas:
• The effects of oxytocin on appetite and body weight regulation.
• Oxytocin as a facilitator of the periphery-brain crosstalk in metabolic control.
• Targeting the oxytocin receptor and oxytocin system in pharmacotherapies aimed at reducing food intake and alleviating metabolic consequences of overeating.
While major advances in obesity pharmacotherapy have been made with the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, semaglutide, it has also been associated with adverse gastrointestinal side effects, including diarrhea and nausea. Thus, multi-drug therapies, aimed at suppressing food intake and/or increasing energy expenditure at subthreshold or low-dose combinations, may be required as successful weight loss strategies. While the nonapeptide, oxytocin (OT), is recognized for its role in osmoregulation, and reproductive and prosocial behavior, it has garnered recent interest as a potential therapy to treat autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, and obesity. OT is an attractive therapeutic agent to treat obesity because it reduces body weight in diet-induced obese (DIO) rodents, even in the presence of leptin resistance, and elicits cardioprotective effects in genetically obese rodents.
The purpose of this Research Topic is to highlight findings pertaining to the role of oxytocin in the control of body weight and discuss its effects on homeostatic/reward feeding and energy expenditure/body composition in DIO and genetically obese rodents as well as non-human primates and humans who are overweight or obese. We conclude by discussing current gaps, inconsistencies, and some of the ongoing challenges that remain in order for OT-based therapeutics to be used as a long-term strategy to treat obesity in humans.
We welcome the submission of Original Research articles, Systematic Reviews, Reviews, and Mini Reviews describing both basic research and human studies including, but not limited to, the following areas:
• The effects of oxytocin on appetite and body weight regulation.
• Oxytocin as a facilitator of the periphery-brain crosstalk in metabolic control.
• Targeting the oxytocin receptor and oxytocin system in pharmacotherapies aimed at reducing food intake and alleviating metabolic consequences of overeating.
Keywords: Obesity, appetite, energy expenditure, leptin resistance, macronutrients, peptides, amino acids, oxytocin
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
