Plasticity of gastrointestinal vagal afferents in terms of feeding‐related physiology and pathophysiology

Abstract

Gastrointestinal vagal afferents play an important role in communicating food related information from the gut to the brain. This information initiates vago‐vagal reflexes essential for gut functions, including gut motility and secretions. These afferents also play a role in energy homeostasis, signalling the arrival, amount and nutrient composition of a meal to the central nervous system where it is processed ultimately leading to termination of a meal. Vagal afferent responses to food related stimuli demonstrate a high degree of plasticity, responding to short term changes in nutritional demand, such as the fluctuations that occur across a 24‐hr or in response to a fast, as well as long term changes in energy demand, such as occurs during pregnancy. This plasticity is disrupted in disease states, such as obesity or chronic stress where there is hypo‐ and hypersensitivity of these afferents, respectively. Improved understanding of the plasticity of these afferents will enable identification of new treatment options for diseases associated with vagal afferent function. image