Obesity through its association with type 2 diabetes (T2D), cancer and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), poses a serious health threat, as these diseases contribute to high mortality rates. Pharmacotherapy alone or in combination with either lifestyle modification or surgery, is reliable in maintaining a healthy body weight, and preventing progression to obesity-induced diseases. However, the anti-obesity drugs are limited by non-specificity and unsustainable weight loss effects. As such, novel and improved approaches for treatment of obesity are urgently needed. Nanotechnology-based therapies are investigated as an alternative strategy that can treat obesity and be able to overcome the drawbacks associated with conventional therapies. The review presents three nanotechnology-based anti-obesity strategies that target the white adipose tissues (WATs) and its vasculature for the reversal of obesity. These include inhibition of angiogenesis in the WATs, transformation of WATs to brown adipose tissues (BATs), and photothermal lipolysis of WATs. Compared to conventional therapy, the targeted-nanosystems have high tolerability, reduced side effects, and enhanced efficacy. These effects are reproducible using various nanocarriers (liposomes, polymeric and gold nanoparticles), thus providing a proof of concept that targeted nanotherapy can be a feasible strategy that can combat obesity and prevent its comorbidities.

中文翻译：

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纳米技术推动肥胖症靶向治疗的发展。

肥胖与 2 型糖尿病 (T2D)、癌症和心血管疾病 (CVD) 相关，构成严重的健康威胁，因为这些疾病导致高死亡率。单独的药物治疗或与生活方式改变或手术相结合，可以可靠地维持健康的体重，并防止进展为肥胖引起的疾病。然而，抗肥胖药物因非特异性和不可持续的减肥效果而受到限制。因此，迫切需要新颖且改进的肥胖治疗方法。基于纳米技术的疗法被研究作为一种替代策略，可以治疗肥胖并能够克服与传统疗法相关的缺点。该综述提出了三种基于纳米技术的抗肥胖策略，这些策略针对白色脂肪组织（WAT）及其脉管系统来逆转肥胖。这些包括抑制 WAT 中的血管生成、将 WAT 转化为棕色脂肪组织 (BAT) 以及 WAT 的光热脂肪分解。与传统疗法相比，靶向纳米系统具有高耐受性、减少副作用和增强疗效。使用各种纳米载体（脂质体、聚合物和金纳米颗粒）可以重现这些效果，从而证明靶向纳米疗法可以成为对抗肥胖并预防其合并症的可行策略。