A Review of Mechanism of Action of Moringa oleifera as an Inhibitor of Adipogenesis in Obesity

Background: Obesity has been becoming a global health problem that could cause the emergence of many other diseases. Several strategies are used to treat obesity, including lifestyle modifications, anti-obesity medications (pharmacotherapy), bariatric surgery, and gut microbiota transplantation. Pharmacotherapy is an effective treatment method and is often chosen by obese people because it is quite simple and does not require invasive and expensive procedures. However, long-term usage of conventional medicines causes serious side effects. Therefore, studies about herbal medicine increased significantly, one of them is Moringa oleifera (MO). Objectives: This review provides information about the pathways involved in the adipogenesis processes in obesity and how MO can inhibit adipogenesis through several pathways. Methods: Data were collected from PubMed based on the keywords “moringa”, “obese”, “adipogenesis”, “adipocyte”, and “lipogenesis”. There were 16 journals in full text that met the inclusion criteria for conducting a literature study related to these keywords over the last 10 years (from 2013 to 2023). Results: The anti-obesity effect of MO is thought to come from several specific compounds isolated from this plant, including quercetin, isoquercetin, quercetin-3-O-malonylglucoside, astragalin, kaempferol, isothiocyanate, EGCG, and many others. These active compounds can be isolated from various parts of the MO plant, but the most widely used are the leaves and seeds. These compounds exert anti-obesity activity by inhibiting adipogenesis through multiple pathways, including the AMPK, PI3K/AKT, MAPK, JAK/STAT, TGF-β, and Wnt/β-catenin pathways. Conclusions: Several in vivo, in vitro, and clinical trial studies have been conducted to demonstrate the benefits and safety of MO as a medicinal plant with pharmacological potential to inhibit adipogenesis in obesity.Keywords: moringa; adipogenesis; adipocyte; lipogenesis; obese