Determining the effects of gut content on satiety
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Determining the effects of gut content on satiety
IRAS ID
198386
Contact name
Kevin Murphy
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Joint Research Compliance Office
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Obesity is a global health problem. Understanding how the gastrointestinal tract senses dietary content to reduce food intake, and how this effect depends on the actual forms of the molecules detected, will permit the design of foods that make people feel full.
Part of the gut (the large intestine) controls appetite by releasing appetite-suppressing gut hormones in response to nutrients and their breakdown products. The structure of these molecules is critical to how the large intestine sees nutrients, and can be altered by microbes that are present in the large intestine. However, we currently do not understand how the composition of the gut contents is changed by these microbes, and how these changes relate to gut hormone release and the feeling of fullness.
We will determine which forms of food metabolites are present in the large intestine, and the resulting effects on gut hormone release and feeling of fullness in healthy volunteers. Following a meal designed to result in significant nutrients reaching the large intestine, we will sample contents from the small intestine (before the microbes from the large intestine act upon it) and the large intestine (after the microbes from the large intestine have acted upon it) in two separate study visits to determine the bacteria present, the breakdown products produced and in which form they are. Gut hormones will be measured, and questionnaires used to assess appetite at the same time points.
These studies will determine how the microbes within the gut influence the forms of breakdown products in the large intestine, and how these changes relate to the release of hormones that control appetite and food intake.
REC name
London - Chelsea Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/1169
Date of REC Opinion
25 Jul 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion