Pancreatic lipase inhibitors: The road voyaged and successes

Human pancreatic lipase (triacylglycerol acyl hydrolase EC3.1.1.3) is the most widely studied member of the human lipase superfamily related to carboxyl esterase. It is secreted from the acinar cell of pancreas and has strong preference for triacylglycerides over cholesterol esters, phospholipids, and galactolipids. Apart from the hydrolysis of triacylglycerides, pancreatic lipase may cause the hydrolysis of retinyl esters in vivo. So, it is very much evidenced that pancreatic lipase with its cofactor colipase has prominent role in efficient digestion of dietary fat. Hence, the modulation of human pancreatic lipase may represent a new insight in the discovery of a number of therapeutics that can inhibit the absorption of fat in body and can be used in obesity and other related metabolic disorders. Even, the only Food and drug administration (FDA) approved antiobesity drug, orlistat, is also an inhibitor of pancreatic lipase. This review summarizes studies about structure, mechanistic approach of pancreatic lipase enzyme while emphasizing on the various synthetic pancreatic lipase inhibitors with their structure activity relationship (SAR).