Evidence that Intestinal Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Plays a Physiological Role in Satiety

A physiological role in satiety is proposed for glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), secreted by the distal intestine in response to ingested nutrients. Here we report that in rats, ip injection of the GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1-R) antagonist exendin 9-39 (Ex9) elicited hyperphagia, but only at times of day when intake is otherwise low. Furthermore, ip administration of Ex9 attenuated satiety induced by either a voluntarily consumed sucrose meal (by 100%) or an intragastric glucose load (by 40%). To determine whether these effects involve blockade of GLP-1-R in brain or at a peripheral site, we injected Ex9 either centrally (into the third ventricle) or peripherally (ip) prior to GLP-1 injected either centrally or peripherally. Anorexia induced by peripheral GLP-1 was fully blocked by peripheral, but not central, pretreatment with Ex9, whereas the opposite was true for anorexic effect of central GLP-1. Thus, ip Ex9 appears to attenuate satiety via peripheral GLP-1-R blockade. Finally, anorexia induced by ip injection of exendin-4 (a GLP-1-R agonist) was due to both reduced meal size and increased duration between meals. We conclude that GLP-1 released from the intestine in response to ingested nutrients is a physiologically active satiety signal.