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The Vagus Nerve and Ghrelin Function

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Central Functions of the Ghrelin Receptor

Part of the book series: The Receptors ((REC,volume 25))

Abstract

Ghrelin, a gastrointestinal hormone originally discovered in human and rat stomach, functions as the only orexigenic signal produced by peripheral tissues. Although ghrelin is considered to affect hypothalamic neurons producing agouti-related protein (AgRP) and neuropeptide Y (NPY) and induce food intake, it is still unclear how peripherally administered ghrelin activates these neurons. The vagal afferent fibers are the major neuroanatomical linkage between the gastrointestinal tract and the nucleus tractus solitarii. Recently, several gastrointestinal hormones have been shown to transmit orexigenic or anorectic signals to the brain at least in part via the vagal afferent system. Indeed, blockade of the vagal afferent pathway abolishes ghrelin-induced feeding, indicating that the vagal afferent system is important to convey orexigenic ghrelin signals to the brain. In this chapter, we mention the role of the vagal afferent system for feeding regulation by gastrointestinal hormones and show the functional linkage in feeding between peripheral ghrelin and the vagal afferent system.

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Acknowledgments

We thank A. Niijima, N. Murakami, M. Nakazato, and K. Kangawa for their technical advice and helpful discussions. This work was supported, in part, by grants-in-aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan, and the Program for the Promotion of Basic Research Activities for Innovative Bioscience (PROBRAIN).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Frontier Science Research Center, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, 889-1692, Japan

    Yukari Date

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  1. Yukari Date
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Correspondence to Yukari Date .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Neurosciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Jeanelle Portelli

  2. Center for Neurosciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Ilse Smolders

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Date, Y. (2014). The Vagus Nerve and Ghrelin Function. In: Portelli, J., Smolders, I. (eds) Central Functions of the Ghrelin Receptor. The Receptors, vol 25. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0823-3_4

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