Discovery of anti-appetite molecule released by fibre could help tackle obesity

(Medical Xpress)—New research has helped unpick a long-standing mystery
about how dietary fibre supresses appetite. In a study led by Imperial
College London and the Medical Research Council (MRC), an international
team of researchers identified an anti-appetite molecule called acetate
that is naturally released when we digest fibre in the gut. Once
released, the acetate is transported to the brain where it produces a
signal to tell us to stop eating.
Here's the paper summary

Increased intake of dietary carbohydrate that is fermented in the colon
by the microbiota has been reported to decrease body weight, although
the mechanism remains unclear. Here we use in vivo11C-acetate and PET-CT scanning to show that colonic acetate crosses the blood–brain barrier and is taken up by the brain. Intraperitoneal acetate results in appetite suppression and hypothalamic neuronal activation patterning. We also show that acetate administration is associated with activation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase
and changes in the expression profiles of regulatory neuropeptides that
favour appetite suppression. Furthermore, we demonstrate through 13C high-resolution magic-angle-spinning that 13C acetate from fermentation of 13C-labelled carbohydrate in the colon increases hypothalamic 13C acetate above baseline levels. Hypothalamic 13C acetate regionally increases the 13C labelling of the glutamate–glutamine and GABA neuroglial cycles, with hypothalamic 13C lactate reaching higher levels than the ‘remaining brain’. These observations suggest that acetate has a direct role in central appetite regulation.

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