pharmaceuticals Review Targeting Energy Expenditure—Drugs for Obesity Treatment Carlos M. Jimenez-Munoz 1 , Marta López 1 , Fernando Albericio 2,3,4,* and Kamil Makowski 2,3,* 1 School of Chemical Sciences and Engineering Yachay Tech University, San Miguel de Urcuquí 100119, Ecuador;
[email protected] (C.M.J.-M.);
[email protected] (M.L.) 2 Department of Surfactants and Biotechnology, Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC), 08034 Barcelona, Spain 3 CIBER-BBN, Networking Centre of Bioengineering, Biomaterials, and Nanomedicine, and Department of Organic Chemistry, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain 4 School of Chemistry and Physics, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa * Correspondence:
[email protected] (F.A.);
[email protected] or
[email protected] (K.M.) Abstract: Obesity and overweight are associated with lethal diseases. In this context, obese and overweight individuals infected by COVID-19 are at greater risk of dying. Obesity is treated by three main pharmaceutical approaches, namely suppressing appetite, reducing energy intake by impairing absorption, and increasing energy expenditure. Most compounds used for the latter were first envisaged for other medical uses. However, several candidates are now being developed explicitly for targeting obesity by increasing energy expenditure. This review analyzes the compounds that show anti-obesity activity exerted through the energy expenditure pathway. They are classified on the basis of their development status: FDA-approved, Withdrawn, Clinical Trials, and Under Citation: Jimenez-Munoz, C.M.; Development. The chemical nature, target, mechanisms of action, and description of the current López, M.; Albericio, F.; Makowski, K.