[Essential obesity: an unresolved clinical problem. Considerations on central appetite stimulants and inhibitors].

The recent theories on the etiology of obesity have attributed more importance to the mechanisms of feeding control. The amount of calories taken daily seems to be under the control of a group of substances which stimulate or inhibit the appetite at the hypothalamic level. The hypothalamus is particularly rich in neurotransmitters or neurohormones which are biologically active and represent the connexion between the cells of the upper centers and the hypothalamus and they interfere in the regulation of feeding. The authors pass in review the more recent literature data regarding the main appetite stimulators as well as their site and their mechanism of action.