Controlling the liver via the gut

Last year, University of Toronto researchers identified a circuit that allows lipid-sensing cells in the small intestine to act remotely through the brain to reduce hepatic glucose production after food intake.¹ However, one key piece was missing from the puzzle-the identity of the gut hormone that mediated sending signals from intestinal lipid-sensing cells to the brain.

The group now has found the missing piece and has published in Cell Metabolism that cholecystokinin (CCK) is the trigger that initiates signaling in the circuit following food intake.² Targeting CCK or its downstream effector molecules could offer a new approach to improving glucose control in metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes...