The Gut-Brain Axis in Diet-Induced Obesity: Role of Intestinal Nutrient Sensing

Dear Colleagues, 

“You are what you eat” could not be truer, given this day and age. Gone are the days when the gut, especially the small intestine, was thought to be designated for digesting and absorbing food. Research over the past 50 years has demonstrated that the intestine, being one of the privileged sites coming into direct physical contact with food, primes the body for hunger and appetite signals by communicating with the brain. Obesity calibrates the body to a different threshold, such that these signals are altered, as is the perception of eating and, more recently, food behaviors, too. This remarkable phenomenon is called “sensing” and can be thought of as a system with sensors that detects, processes, and transmits signals to and from the central nervous system to maintain energy homeostasis.  

This Special Issue focuses on expanding knowledge on intestinal nutrient sensing and the impact of diet and obesity on the sensing, processing, and transmission of luminal nutrient status to the brain. Research encompassing but not limited to the effects of single and combination nutrients on gut health, the release of gut peptides, appetite and satiety behaviors, molecular and cellular mechanisms of taste, the transmission of vagal information, and uncovering novel sensors and receptors along the gut-brain axis. We welcome submissions of original hypothesis-driven research, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and clinical trials. Pilot and feasibility studies are eligible for submission.

Dr. Sinju Sundaresan
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• intestinal sensing
• gut peptides
• vagal neurotransmission
• nodal cell bodies
• hunger
• satiety
• appetite regulation
• hypothalamic hunger circuits