Stomach clusterin as a gut-derived feeding regulator

BMB Rep. 2024 Mar;57(3):149-154. doi: 10.5483/BMBRep.2023-0117.

Abstract

The stomach has emerged as a crucial endocrine organ in the regulation of feeding since the discovery of ghrelin. Gut-derived hormones, such as ghrelin and cholecystokinin, can act through the vagus nerve. We previously reported the satiety effect of hypothalamic clusterin, but the impact of peripheral clusterin remains unknown. In this study, we administered clusterin intraperitoneally to mice and observed its ability to suppress fasting-driven food intake. Interestingly, we found its synergism with cholecystokinin and antagonism with ghrelin. These effects were accompanied by increased c-fos immunoreactivity in nucleus tractus solitarius, area postrema, and hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus. Notably, truncal vagotomy abolished this response. The stomach expressed clusterin at high levels among the organs, and gastric clusterin was detected in specific enteroendocrine cells and the submucosal plexus. Gastric clusterin expression decreased after fasting but recovered after 2 hours of refeeding. Furthermore, we confirmed that stomachspecific overexpression of clusterin reduced food intake after overnight fasting. These results suggest that gastric clusterin may function as a gut-derived peptide involved in the regulation of feeding through the gut-brain axis. [BMB Reports 2024; 57(3): 149-154].

Publication types

  • News

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cholecystokinin / pharmacology
  • Clusterin / pharmacology
  • Eating* / physiology
  • Feeding Behavior
  • Ghrelin* / pharmacology
  • Mice
  • Stomach

Substances

  • Ghrelin
  • Clusterin
  • Cholecystokinin

Grants and funding

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Korean government (2020R1A2C3004843, 2022M3E5E8017213 to M-S.K., 2020R1C1C1008033 to O.K.).