Publication at Second Faculty of Medicine |
2005
Abstract
Regulation of food intake and nutritional status of the organism is a complex process that takes place at the level of several organ systems. The central regulator is the hypothalamus, which integrates nerve and hormonal signals from the periphery and monitors serum glucose and lipid levels.
The hypothalamus contains neurons that produce both orexigenic hormones that increase food intake (neuropeptide Y, agouti-related protein, orexins) and anorexigenic hormones, which act by the opposite mechanism of proopiomelanocortin, cocaine and amphetamine-regulated transcript).