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Molecular Mechanisms Involved in the Regulation of Food Intake

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Molecular Mechanisms Underpinning the Development of Obesity

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Abstract

Obesity has its development as a result of a positive balance between caloric intake and energy expenditure. There are many factors involved in this imbalance, from which emerges the neuroendocrine regulation of energy metabolism. In this regulation are involved gastrointestinal hormones, which constitute important modulators of the energy homeostasis, as well as other molecules with a more central action. This modulatory effect affects appetite and satiety, occurring by direct action on the hypothalamus or in the brainstem level. Currently, only ghrelin has been implicated in the initiation of food intake, being considered a major orexigenic signal, both in animal models as well as in humans. However, the regulation of food intake and energy balance is considered an extremely complex process, whose operation and balance is possible only through the action of various endocrine signals in the gastrointestinal tract. In this chapter we review the main factors involved in the regulation of food intake, energy balance and its pathophysiology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada, Avenida de la Ilustración s/n, 18016, Granada, CP, (Spain)

    Emilio González-Jiménez

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  1. Emilio González-Jiménez
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Correspondence to Emilio González-Jiménez .

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  1. Cntr for Neurosciences and Cell Biology University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Clévio Nóbrega

  2. Nutrition and Gastroenterology Department, Armand-Trousseau Hospital, Valencia, Spain

    Raquel Rodriguez-López

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González-Jiménez, E. (2014). Molecular Mechanisms Involved in the Regulation of Food Intake. In: Nóbrega, C., Rodriguez-López, R. (eds) Molecular Mechanisms Underpinning the Development of Obesity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12766-8_7

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