This review by Jesudason and Wittert focuses on recent advances in our understanding of the endocannabinoid system and its role as a major regulator of food intake and peripheral energy metabolism. The authors described the central and peripheral effects of the endocannabinoid system and the contribution of its overactivity to fat accumulation and lipogenesis. They also reviewed the endocannabinoid receptor ligands and the recent discoveries of endocannabinoid receptor polymorphisms and their relationship to obesity and metabolic disease. The authors described some new advances in endocannabinoid system research, such as GPR55 receptor, suggesting that this system may have a more complex role in physiology than expected. Future research may identify additional receptors and ligands for this system and the pathways responsible for the synthesis and breakdown of those ligands.
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