Adiposity signaling and meal size control

Signaling from energy stores provides feedback on overall nutrient availability to influence food intake. Beginning with seminal studies by Woods and colleagues identifying insulin as an adiposity signal, it has become clear that such factors affect food intake by modulating the efficacy of within meal feedback satiety signals. More recent work with leptin has revealed actions of the hormone in modulating the efficacy of multiple gut feedback signals, identified the dorsal hindbrain as a site of signal integration and suggested both local and descending hypothalamic to hindbrain actions in mediating these effects. The original work by Woods and colleagues provided the necessary experimental paradigms for these advances.

Research Highlights► Signaling from energy stores provide feedback to affect the satiety. ► Leptin interacts with within-meal satiety signaling to inhibit food intake. ► Leptin's actions to affect meals are distributed.