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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Amy Fuller, Dr Bernadette Carroll, Dr Adrian Holliday
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2024. The age-related decline in appetite and food intake – termed “anorexia of ageing” – is implicated in undernutrition in later life and hence provides a public health challenge for our ageing population. Eating behaviour is controlled, in part, by homeostatic mechanisms which sense nutrient status and provide feedback to appetite control regions of the brain. Such feedback signals, propagated by episodic gut hormones, are dysregulated in some older adults. The secretory responses of appetite-related gut hormones to feeding are amplified, inducing a more anorexigenic signal which is associated with reduced appetite and food intake. Such an augmented response would indicate an increase in gut sensitivity to nutrients. Consequently, this review explores the role of gastrointestinal tract nutrient sensing in age-related appetite dysregulation. We review and synthesise evidence for age-related alterations in nutrient sensing which may explain the observed hormonal dysregulation. Drawing on what is known regarding elements of nutrient sensing pathways in animal models, in other tissues of the body, and in certain models of disease, we identify potential causal mechanisms including alterations in enteroendocrine cell number and distribution, dysregulation of cell signalling pathways, and changes in the gut milieu. From identified gaps in evidence, we highlight interesting and important avenues for future research.
Author(s): Dagbasi A, Fuller A, Hanyaloglu AC, Carroll B, McLaughlin J, Frost G, Holliday A
Publication type: Review
Publication status: Published
Journal: Appetite
Year: 2024
Volume: 203
Print publication date: 01/12/2024
Online publication date: 16/10/2024
Acceptance date: 15/10/2024
ISSN (print): 0195-6663
ISSN (electronic): 1095-8304
Publisher: Academic Press
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2024.107718
DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107718
PubMed id: 39423861
Data Access Statement: No data was used for the research described in the article.
