Nutrient sensing in the gut and the regulation of appetite

Gut hormones play important roles in the control of post-prandial metabolism, as they regulate processes such as insulin secretion and appetite. They are released from specialised enteroendocrine cells in the intestinal epithelium in proportion to local rates of local nutrient absorption, using sensory pathways including G-protein coupled receptors and the sodium glucose cotransporter. A variety of drugs for treating type 2 diabetes and obesity are based on the gut hormone glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), and newer peptide therapeutics aim to mimic the endocrine consequences of bariatric surgery by introducing agonism at multiple gut hormone receptors. This review focuses on the key pathways and processes involved in enteroendocrine cell function.