The liver X receptors (LXRs), members of the nuclear receptor superfamily, are potential targets for a variety of diseases. While there are many opportunities for the development of LXR-based therapeutics, there are some major hurdles, such as the ability of LXRs to cause hypertriglyceridemia, as well as some species-dependent aspects of LXR-mediated gene regulation. In addition to classical pharmacological approaches using relevant cellular and animal models, systematic molecular-based strategies will be important in overcoming these obstacles.