Metabolic and Epigenetics Action Mechanisms of Antiobesity Medicinal Plants and Phytochemicals

Abstract

Ever-growing research efforts are demonstrating the potential of medicinal plants and their phytochemicals to prevent andmanageobesity,eitherindividuallyorsynergistically.Multiplecombinationsofphytochemicalscanresultinasynergisticactivitythat increases their beneficial effects at molecular, cellular, metabolic, and temporal levels, offering advantages over chemicallysynthesized drug-based treatments. Herbs and their derived compounds have the potential for controlling appetite, inhibitingpancreatic lipase activity, stimulating thermogenesis and lipid metabolism, increasing satiety, promoting lipolysis, regulatingadipogenesis, and inducing apoptosis in adipocytes. Furthermore, targeting adipocyte life cycle using various dietary bioactivesthataffectdifferentstagesofadipocytelifecyclerepresentsalsoanimportanttargetinthedevelopmentofnewantiobesitydrugs.In this regard, different stages of adipocyte development that are targeted by antiobesity drugs can include preadipocytes,maturingpreadipocytes,andmatureadipocytes.Variousherbal-derivedactivecompounds,suchascapsaicin,genistein,apigenin,luteolin, kaempferol, myricetin, quercetin, docosahexaenoic acid, quercetin, resveratrol, and ajoene, affect adipocytes duringspecific stages of development, resulting in either inhibition of adipogenesis or induction of apoptosis. Although numerousmolecular targets that can be used for both treatment and prevention of obesity have been identified, targeted single cellularreceptor or pathway has resulted in limited success. In this review, we discuss the state-of-the-art knowledge about antiobesitymedicinal plants and their active compounds and their effects on several cellular, molecular, and metabolic pathways simul-taneously with multiple phytochemicals through synergistic functioning which might be an appropriate approach to bettermanagementofobesity.Inaddition,epigeneticmechanisms(acetylation,methylation,miRNAs,ubiquitylation,phosphorylation,and chromatin packaging) of phytochemicals and their preventive and therapeutic perspective are explored in this review