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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Apr 1.
Published in final edited form as: Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2013 Jan 29;24(4):165–173. doi: 10.1016/j.tem.2013.01.001

Figure 2. Endocrine axes in energy homeostasis.

Figure 2

Uroguanylin is one of many endogenous peptide hormones peripherally synthesized and released into the systemic circulation to signal energy status. These hormones travel to their cognate receptors expressed in regulatory centers in the central nervous system (CNS), including the hypothalamus (blue) in the ventral diencephalon and the dorsal vagal complex (DVC, light yellow) in the medulla. These hormones include: adiponectin and leptin from adipose tissue (red arrows); CCK, GLP-1, OXM, PYY, and uroguanylin from the intestine (blue arrows); amylin, insulin, and PP from the pancreas (yellow arrows); and ghrelin from the stomach (green arrow). Among these hormones, only ghrelin is orexigenic, and is the only known orexigenic gut hormone. The others, including uroguanylin, are anorexigenic. Communication between the gastrointestinal system and the brainstem also occurs through vagal connections (purple).