ghrelin tagged posts

A multi-institutional group of researchers led by the Hubrecht Institute and Roche’s Institute of Human Biology has developed strategies to identify regulators of intestinal hormone secretion. In response to incoming food, these hormones are secreted by rare hormone producing cells in the gut and play key roles in managing digestion and appetite. The team has developed new tools to identify potential ‘nutrient sensors’ on these hormone producing cells and study their function...

NPGL apparently aims to maintain body mass at a constant, come feast or famine.

Study explains why food looks even better when dieting. Up until now, scientists knew that leptin – a hormone released by fatty tissue, reduces appetite, while ghrelin – a hormone released by stomach tissue makes us want to eat more. These hormones, in turn, activate a host of neurons in the brain’s hypothalamus – the body’s energy control center. The discovery of NPGL by Professor Kazuyoshi Ukena of Hiroshima University shows that hunger and energy consumption mechanisms are even more complex than we realized – and that NPGL plays a central role in what were thought to be well-understood processes.

Professor Ukena first discovered NPGL in chickens after noticing that growing birds grew larger irrespective of d...