Abstract
The prevalence and incidence of overweight and obesity is rising in many countries and this is storing up huge public health problems for the future. Conventional approaches to the treatment of overweight and obesity involving reducing energy intake through food restriction and stimulating energy expenditure by increasing levels of exercise have proved ineffective. Stearoyl CoA desaturase has a well-defined metabolic role in the conversion of saturated fatty acids into monounsaturated fatty acids and hence in regulating the balance between these two classes of fatty acid. However, it has recently emerged that stearoyl CoA desaturase is also one link in the chain mediatin the action of the anti-obesity hormone leptin on energy expenditure. Dietary or pharmaceutical interventions aimed at lowering the activity of stearoyl CoA desaturase would have anti-obesity effects.The prevalence and incidence of overweight and obesity is rising in many countries and this is storing up huge public health problems for the future. Conventional approaches to the treatment of overweight and obesity involving reducing energy intake through food restriction and stimulating energy expenditure by increasing levels of exercise have proved ineffective. Stearoyl CoA desaturase has a well-defined metabolic role in the conversion of saturated fatty acids into monounsaturated fatty acids and hence in regulating the balance between these two classes of fatty acid. However, it has recently emerged that stearoyl CoA desaturase is also one link in the chain mediatin the action of the anti-obesity hormone leptin on energy expenditure. Dietary or pharmaceutical interventions aimed at lowering the activity of stearoyl CoA desaturase would have anti-obesity effects.