Metabolic Drugs and the Brain: Neurodegeneration, Obesity, and Eating Disorders

The brain is not merely a passive regulator of metabolism: it is an active immunometabolic organ whose dysfunction underpins a growing spectrum of disorders, from neurodegeneration to obesity and disordered eating. Mounting evidence points to shared pathological mechanisms across these conditions: chronic neuroinflammation, impaired insulin signaling, microglial dysregulation, disrupted hypothalamic circuitry, and immune-metabolic crosstalk.At the same time, a new generation of metabolic pharmacotherapies, most notably GLP-1 receptor agonists (semaglutide, liraglutide, tirzepatide), originally developed for type 2 diabetes and obesity, are revealing remarkable neuroprotective and neuromodulatory properties. Their effects on neuroinflammation, dopaminergic signaling, appetite regulation, and cognitive function are reshaping our understanding of the brain-metabolism interface and opening new therapeutic avenues across neurology and psychiatry.This Research Topic aims to consolidate this rapidly evolving field by bringing together basic, translational, and clinical research at the intersection of immunometabolic neuroscience and CNS pharmacology.Topics of Interest• GLP-1 receptor agonists and the brain: neuroprotection, neuroinflammation, cognition, and reward• Insulin resistance and neurodegeneration: Alzheimer’s disease as a metabolic disorder (“Type 3 diabetes”)• Microglial and neuroimmune mechanisms in metabolic brain disease• Hypothalamic dysfunction in obesity, eating disorders, and type 2 diabetes• Gut-brain axis pharmacology and its role in metabolic and neurological outcomes• Dopaminergic and reward circuit modulation by metabolic drugs• Novel targets at the immunometabolic-neurological interface• Clinical evidence for metabolic drugs in neurodegenerative and psychiatric conditions• Eating disorders and neuroendocrine pharmacology — GLP-1, ghrelin, leptin signaling• Biomarkers of immunometabolic dysfunction in CNS disease• Peripheral metabolic hormones in modulating central appetite and reward circuits• Neuroendocrine regulation of feeding behavior: oxytocin and FGF21 systems• Impact of metabolic disorders and developmental factors on brain function• Immune system metabolic regulation and its impact on the brain Topic editors: Alison Delamere McNeilly, Ani Gasparyan, Sho Matsui, Roberta Imperatore Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81546/metabolic-drugs-and-the-brain-neurodegeneration-obesity-and-eating-disorders