Endocrine Abstracts

The gastrointestinal tract is anatomically positioned to play a crucial role in the regulation of metabolic homeostasis, providing critical postingestive negative feedback to regulate both exogenous energy intake, as well as endogenous glucose production. This talk will highlight the ability of small intestinal lipid sensing to lower glucose production via a gut–brain–liver axis that is dependent on local gut peptide signaling. Furthermore, recent evidence indicates that the antidiabetic agents, metformin and resveratrol, activate intestinal energy sensory mechanisms to remotely lower hepatic glucose production via a neuronal network, which are critical for their overall glucose-lowering effectiveness. A better understanding of these pathways lays the groundwork for intestinally targeted drug therapy for the treatment of diabetes.