A network-based bioinformatic analysis for identifying potential repurposable drugs for obesity avoiding hepatic steatosis side-effect

Obesity is a complex multifactorial disorder characterized by the excess accumulation of body fat that impairs human health due to the risk of developing other diseases, including cardiovascular and hepatic diseases, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia. Its spread has been progressively accelerating, resulting in an unprecedented epidemic with no significant signs of slowing down any time soon. Drug therapy via the proposal repurposing solutions can represent an actionable treatment strategy, even if the emergence of drug-induced adverse effects can affect the treatment of this pathology. In this study, we propose a network-based analysis to identify a list of drug candidates predicted to be repurposable for obesity that are unlikely to produce specific adverse side-effect, such as hepatic steatosis.