Abstract
The review article summarizes a very complex process of appetite regulation: the part focused on homeostatic regulation of food intake. The aim of homeostatic regulation is to achieve energy balance, stabile weight and optimal nutrient intake, in contrast to hedonic regulation of food intake, in which emotional and motivational factors are involved.
Homeostatic regulativ could be divided into short-term and long-term regulation and comprises mainly gastrointestinal peptides, fat tissue hormones and central mechanisms localized in hypothalamus. It is a resultant of the action of orexigenic factors (increasing appetite and food intake) and anorexigenic factors (decreasing appetite and thus food intake), respectively.
The anorexigenic factors include gastrointestinal peptides (e.g. cholecystokinin, glucagon-like peptide 1, bombesin, peptide YY and others), hormone of fat tissue leptin and centrally acting melanocortin system. On the contrary, orexigenic factors comprise of gastric ghrelin and centrally acting system of neuropeptide Y/Agouti-related peptide.
Understanding the principles of the regulation of food intake is essential for comprehension of pathogenesis of eating disorders and obesity, whose prevalence has been recently increasing, and it provides potential targets for pharmacological interventions