Role of Leptin in Obesity Management: Current and Herbal Treatment

Abstract

Obesity is an excessive accumulation of fat in the body associated with numerous complications such as development of hypertension, type 2 diabetes (T2DM), dyslipidemia, sleep apnea, and respiratory disorders; and ultimately life-threatening cardiovascular disease (CVD), stroke, certain types of cancer and osteoarthritis. In 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults aged 18 years and older were overweight. Of these, over 650 million adults were obese, that is over 39% of men and 40% of women were overweight. Rapid rise in obesity cases in both developed and developing countries and people suffering from it needs rapid and complete cure form it without any side effects. Herbal medicine has been used for the treatment of disease for more than 2000 years, and it has proven efficacy. Many studies have confirmed that herbal medicines are effective in the treatment of obesity. Various plants from different families and several phytochemical constituents are responsible for the anti-obesity activity such as fenugreek cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, etc. Present work mainly cover herbal species having leptin-stimulating potential for weight management, importance of leptin, its mechanism of action, current and herbal treatment for effective weight management.