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How the body signals fullness; Upstate researcher studies gut-brain communication to tackle obesity

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How the body signals fullness; Upstate researcher studies gut-brain communication to tackle obesity

According to the National Institute of Health, over 42% of adults and almost 20% of children in the US are considered obese. Despite the millions impacted by obesity-related diseases and conditions, many questions remain about the physiological mechanisms by which our bodies process food and nutrient information to regulate eating behavior. Now, with over $1.7 million dollars over the next five years from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Hui-Hao Lin, PhD, and his research team will be attempting to shed light on how gut-brain communication influences how we fuel our bodies. Lin is an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience and Physiology at Upstate.

Five people standing in a science lab at Upstate Medical University

(L to R) Lab Manager William Lewis, Postdoctoral Associate Cyong Jhih (CJ) Liang, PhD, Hui-Hao Lin, PhD, Research Support Specialist Ashley Goss, PhD Student Chelsea Hsiao

This research seeks to understand how the brain regulates food intake to fulfill specific nutrient needs. “Food contains multiple nutrients, like protein, carbohydrates, and fat. We’re interested in how these specific nutrients influence our daily food intake.” Lin explains. Most studies focus on energy homeostasis—the biological process that balances food intake with energy expenditure.

“However, it remains unclear whether and how specific nutrients directly influence our food intake. The protein leverage hypothesis suggests that our bodies know how much protein we need to maintain our physiological needs.” According to this hypothesis, if our diet lacks adequate protein, the body may prompt continued eating, potentially leading to overconsumption of other nutrients, such as fats and sugars.

If our bodies are physiologically wired to need certain levels of protein, how are those signals conveyed from the gut to our brain? This is the question Lin is attempting to answer with this grant by studying the gut and nervous systems of the fruit fly, building off his previous work.

“In my previous study, we identified a gut hormone that responds to protein intake; when the fly consumes proteins, the gut senses them and releases a specific hormone,” Lin explains. “This gut hormone then travels to the brain, activating the neural circuit to suppress protein feeding without affecting sucrose consumption. Now we want to understand the neural circuitry in the brain that responds to this gut-specific satiety signal.”

Beyond protein intake, Lin says the next step is to explore other gut hormones that respond to various nutrients and to investigate how the brain interprets these nutrient-specific signals.

“In theory, all the satiety signals should converge in a region of the brain we call the ‘neural hub’. We want to identify where the neural hub is located determine if it can integrate those multiple gut satiety signals, and understand how its activity regulates our food intake.”

Understanding the neural circuit mechanism of feeding regulation could provide insight into how to treat eating disorders like obesity, anorexia, and more.

You can read more about this specific project here, and follow along with the work happening in Lin’s lab at their website.

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