Gut-brain signalling/Bibliography

Primary Research Papers

Korbonits M. et al (2004) Ghrelin—a hormone with multiple functions. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology 25:27-68 (In the current review we comprehensively summarize (i) the data available regarding the structure, expression pattern and regulation of ghrelin and its receptor; (ii) the available information regarding the effect of ghrelin on the pituitary hormone axis, appetite regulation, cardiac and gastrointestinal function, carbohydrate metabolism, adipose and reproductive tissue, cell proliferation and behavioral effects; (iii) experimental and clinical data regarding circulating ghrelin levels observed in various physiological and pathological conditions; and (iv) data on gene variations of ghrelin and its receptor.)

Tsurugizawa T. et al (2009) Mechanisms of Neural Response to Gastrointestinal Nutritive Stimuli: The Gut-Brain Axis. Gastroenterology 137:262-273 (The gut-brain axis, which transmits nutrient information from the gastrointestinal tract to the brain, is important for the detection of dietary nutrients. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging of the rat forebrain to investigate how this pathway conveys nutrient information from the gastrointestinal tract to the brain.)

Review Papers

Näslund E. et al (2007) Appetite signaling: From gut peptides and enteric nerves to brain. Physiology & Behaviour 92:256-262 (The only identified hunger-driving signal from the GI tract is ghrelin, which is mainly found in the mucosa of the stomach. Neuropeptides in the brain that influence food intake, of which neuropeptide Y, agouti gene-related peptide and orexins are stimulatory, while melanocortins and α-melanocortin stimulating hormone are inhibitory, are influenced by peptide signaling from the gut. These effects may take place directly through action of gut peptide in the brain or through nervous signaling from the periphery to the brain. The criteria for considering a gut hormone or neurotransmitter in a satiety signal seem to be fulfilled for cholecystokinin, glucagon-like peptide-1 and peptide YY(3-36).)

Schwartz MW. et al (2000) Central nervous system control of food intake. NATURE 404:661-671 (New information regarding neuronal circuits that control food intake and their hormonal regulation has extended our understanding of energy homeostasis, the process whereby energy intake is matched to energy expenditure over time. The profound obesity that results in rodents (and in the rare human case as well) from mutation of key signalling molecules involved in this regulatory system highlights its importance to human health. Although each new signalling pathway discovered in the hypothalamus is a potential target for drug development in the treatment of obesity, the growing number of such signalling molecules indicates that food intake is controlled by a highly complex process.)

Druce MR. et al (2004) Minireview: Gut Peptides Regulating Satiety. Endocrinology 145(6):2660-2665 (The gastrointestinal tract and the pancreas release hormones regulating satiety and body weight. Ghrelin stimulates appetite, and glucagon-like peptide-1, oxyntomodulin, peptide YY, cholecystokinin, and pancreatic polypeptide inhibit appetite. These gut hormones act to markedly alter food intake in humans and rodents. Obesity is the current major cause of premature death in the United Kingdom, killing almost 1000 people per week. Worldwide, its prevalence is accelerating. There is currently no effective answer to the pandemic of obesity, but replacement of the low levels of peptideYYobserved in the obese may represent an effective antiobesity therapy.)

Banks WA. (2008) The blood-brain barrier: Connecting the gut and the brain. Regulatory Peptides 149:11-14 (The blood-brain barrier (BBB) also conveys information between the CNS and the gastrointestinal (GI) tract through several mechanisms. Here, we review three of those mechanisms. First, the BBB selectively transports some peptides and regulatory proteins in the blood-to-brain or the brain-to-blood direction. Th ability of GI hormones to affect functions of the BBB, as illustrated by the ability of insulin to alter the BB transport of amino acids and drugs, represents a second mechanism. A third mechanism is the ability of GI hormones to affect the secretion by the BBB of substances that themselves affect feeding and appetite, such as nitric oxide and cytokines.)