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Gut microbes and food reward: From the gut to the brain
The interactions between the intestinal microbiome and nervous signaling play a role in modulating dietary intake through its influence on the hypothalamic hunger and satiety/satiation drivers. Imbalances in food intake is one of the reasons behind lipid accumulation and obesity. However, dietary intake is influenced by voluntary mechanisms spurred by hedonic and reward systems that generate pleasure, and are not related to biological homeostasis. In this review by de Wouters d’Oplinter et al. (2022), the authors discuss the regulatory mechanisms of dietary consumption, and how the underlying mechanisms of the gut microbiome-brain pathways influence the host dietary intake, with recognition of the hedonic drivers behind food consumption. Acknowledging the potential for the use of dietary therapeutic approaches to ameliorate the noted dysregulations and to improve the efficiency of existing treatment guidelines, the authors comment on the potential of gut microbiome-targeted interventions to modulate food reward-based signaling. [NPID: Food reward, food intake, gut microbes, gut microbiome, gut-brain-axis, obesity]
Year: 2022
