Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.
The central melanocortin system is comprised of discrete populations of neurons and circuits that play a key role in maintaining energy balance. This system can sense levels of peripheral energy stores and can integrate a variety of nutrient, neuronal and hormonal signals to regulate food intake, energy expenditure and nutrient metabolism. Disruption of this system at multiple levels causes obesity in humans and animals. This article reviews the normal physiology and regulation of the central melanocortin system, the abnormalities of this system that cause impaired energy balance in humans and in rodents and the potential to target this system for the treatment of obesity and cachexia.