GLP-1 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...

Image1: A platypus. The same hormone produced in the gut of the platypus to regulate blood glucose is also produced in their venom, researchers have found – and that hormone could be used in possible type 2 diabetes treatments. Image2: An echidna. The same hormone produced in the gut of the echidna to regulate blood glucose is also produced in their venom, researchers have found – and that hormone could be used in possible type 2 diabetes treatments.

Australian researchers have discovered remarkable evolutionary changes to insulin regulation in two of the nation’s most iconic native animal species – the platypus and echidna – which could pave the way for new treatments for type 2 diabetes in humans...

These are neurons (c-fos, green) in the rat central amygdala activated by E. coli proteins in stationary phase and surrounded by nerve terminals (calcitonin gene-related peptide, red) originating from anorexigenic brainstem projections. Credit: J. Breton, N. Lucas & D. Schapman.

Don’t have room for dessert? The bacteria in your gut may be telling you something. 20 min after a meal, gut microbes produce proteins that can suppress food intake in animals, reports a study. The researchers also show how these proteins injected into mice and rats act on the brain reducing appetite, suggesting that gut bacteria may help control when and how much we eat.

The new evidence coexists with current models of appetite control, which involve hormones from the gut signalling to brain circuits when we’re hu...