Abstract

The predominance of obesity is consistently rising worldwide. Development of obesity is intimately related with other chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Treatment of obesity is achieved by losing weight, but to reach this, beyond strategies based on food deprivation, innovative therapeutic interventions are necessary. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is considered the master regulator of metabolism. AMPK is activated by a low cellular energy status. Activated AMPK promotes catabolic processes to generate ATP while inhibits the synthesis pathways (anabolism) requiring ATP for maintain the cellular energy homeostasis. Additionaly, AMPK is involved in other cellular processes (i.e. cell cycle regulation). The ability of AMPK to drive metabolism makes it a postulated target for the treatment of obesity, diabetes, inflammation and cancer. We review here recent knowledge about AMPK and its role in an obesity context. Furthermore, we provide an overview of the effect of different drugs on AMPK activity and the association between this effect and the treatment of obesity and its associated comorbidities.