N/OFQ-NOP system in food intake

While lifestyle modifications should be the first-line actions in preventing and treating obesity and eating disorders, pharmacotherapy also provides a necessary tool for the management of these diseases. However, given the limitations of current anti-obesity drugs, innovative treatments that improve efficacy and safety are needed. Since the discovery that the activation of the Nociceptin/Orphanin (N/OFQ) FQ peptide (NOP) receptor by N/OFQ induces an increase of food intake in laboratory animals, and the finding that this effect can be blocked by NOP antagonists, many NOP agonists and antagonists have been synthesized and tested in vitro and in vivo for their potential regulation of feeding behavior. Promising results seem to suggest that the N/OFQergic system may be a potential therapeutic target for the neural control of feeding behavior and related pathologies, especially in binge-like eating behavior.