Gastrointestinal satiety signals

Abstract

Obesity constitutes a major global healthcare challenge. The morbidity, mortality, and socioeconomic costs of obesity are considerable. No currently available medical therapy delivers substantial, sustainable weight loss. The need to better understand the mechanisms of appetite regulation is therefore clear. Over the last 20 years, peptide hormones released from the gastrointestinal tract in response to nutritional stimuli have come to be recognized as important physiological regulators of appetite. Hormones such as peptide YY, pancreatic polypeptide, glucagon-like peptide-1 and oxyntomodulin are thought to act as postprandial satiety signals. These physiological pathways of appetite control offer a promising basis for anti-obesity therapies. Here, we briefly review the state of current knowledge of these hormones' actions on brain appetite circuits, and prospects for future research and development. © 2008 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.