Study: Hormone Secreted by Intestine May Be Linked to Obesity

A hormone secreted by the intestine after eating high-fat food may be the newest target for a drug to treat obesity, according to researchers at Kyoto University in Japan.

Gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) is secreted from the duodenum in the intestine. Researchers bred mice that lacked the GIP receptor and thus did not have the ability to secrete GIP. When the mice were fed a high-fat diet, they did not gain weight and did not suffer from insulin resistance, a condition linking obesity with Type 2 diabetes.

Mice lacking the GIP receptor and the gene for the hormone leptin were even thinner than mice lacking the GIP receptor alone, according to the study published in the journal Nature Medicine.

Researchers speculate that, in the absence of the GIP receptor, fat is not accumulated in fat cells but is used as the primary energy source.

"Thus, GIP directly links over-eating to obesity and is a potential target for anti-obesity drugs," concluded the researchers.

Other sources:Nature Medicine