Obesity is one of the most challenging health issue worldwide that has been steadily increasing in the last decades. Obesity arises from a positive energy balance in result of increased intake and decreased energy expenditure, usually due to inadequate dietary habits and a sedentary lifestyle, which results in the accumulation of excess body fat. There are few pharmacological tools to address obesity, thus calorie restriction and increased physical activity are still the cornerstone of obesity treatment. In recent years, natural products obtained from plants have been thoroughly studied to infer whether these have any potential to target obesity. Methylxanthines comprise one of those classes of compounds that are abundant in common food products consumed on a daily basis worldwide, such as coffee, chocolate, or tea. Despite caffeine is the most popular and well-studied methylxanthine, theobromine and theophylline are also abundant in humans’ diet. Notably, methylxanthines proved to stimulate lipolysis and inhibit adipogenesis, which are interesting properties that could contribute for obesity management. This review aims to discuss the most recent information concerning the promising role of methylxanthines in the modulation of adipose tissue functions, highlighting the potential of these molecules in the development of novel therapeutic approaches for obesity treatment.

肥胖是全球最具挑战性的健康问题之一，在过去的几十年中，肥胖一直在稳步增长。肥胖是由于摄入量增加和能量消耗减少导致的积极能量平衡而引起的，通常是由于饮食习惯不足和久坐不动的生活方式所致，从而导致体内多余脂肪的积累。肥胖的药理工具很少，因此限制卡路里和增加体育锻炼仍然是肥胖治疗的基石。近年来，已经对从植物中获得的天然产物进行了彻底的研究，以推断它们是否具有针对肥胖症的潜能。甲基黄嘌呤包含在世界范围内日常消费的常见食品中含量丰富的一类化合物之一，例如咖啡，巧克力或茶。尽管咖啡因是最流行和研究最深入的甲基黄嘌呤，但人类饮食中可可碱和茶碱含量也很高。值得注意的是，甲基黄嘌呤被证明可以刺激脂肪分解和抑制脂肪生成，这是有助于肥胖管理的有趣特性。这篇综述旨在讨论有关甲基黄嘌呤在调节脂肪组织功能中的有希望作用的最新信息，强调这些分子在肥胖治疗的新型治疗方法开发中的潜力。