Humoral regulation of eating behavior: established and new concepts

Understanding of the motivational factors behind food choices and eating habits is essential to combating the epidemics of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Eating behavior is controlled by a complex system, which includes the interaction of central and humoral links of regulation. Regarding the central mechanisms, the key role is played by the cortex and reward zones in the limbic system (″hedonic″ regulation), in which the triggers coming from the environment are analyzed: food (appearance, taste, smell of food), non-food (emotional discomfort, stress), and the hypothalamus, stimulation of the ventromedial nuclei of which is accompanied by a decrease in appetite, and stimulation is accompanied by an increase. The leading role in providing humoral (homeostatic, peripheral) regulation is played by hormones of the gastrointestinal tract and adipose tissue, which have orexigenic or anorexigenic effects, among them: ghrelin, glucagon-like peptide, obestatin, leptin, cholecystokinin, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, secretin, peptide tyrosine-tyrosine, insulin, insulin-like peptide, neurotensin, substance P and many others. Enteroendocrine cells vary in distribution throughout the gastrointestinal tract, from the stomach to the rectum, and involve different physiological responses at each stage of the digestive process. The use of neuroimaging methods to demonstrate specific reactions in response to a food stimulus makes it possible to confirm existing humoral disorders at the ″gut – brain″ level. The study of eating hormones helps explain why cravings for certain food choices exist, how to modify these behaviors and food preferences. Knowledge of the biological mechanisms governing eating behavior will help ensure the effectiveness of the treatment of obesity and related disorders. The injection of hormones that regulate eating behavior is accompanied by the activation of the corresponding brain regions involved in the regulation of eating behavior. Personalized medicine aimed at behavioral and pharmacological correction of hormonal status disorders is a promising modern medical practice. The purpose of the review is to present new scientific data on neurohumoral mechanisms in the formation of eating behavior.

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