A Gut-Brain-Liver Connection Lowers Blood Glucose Production

An article that was published online, April 9th, 2008, in the journal Nature, outlines the discovery of a signaling pathway involving the brain, liver and the upper intestine, that when triggered, slows glucose production.

Finding out how to trigger this pathway could lead to new treatments for lowering blood glucose levels in diabetes someday.

Although the study was performed on rats, scientists feel that the pathway may be similar in humans. During the study, it was discovered that when the subjects ate a high fat diet for three days the beneficial pathway became disabled and blood glucose production was not slowed down.

Read an abstract of the study here...

• Upper intestinal lipids trigger a gut–brain–liver axis to regulate glucose production

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