Gastrointestinal hormone

The gastrointestinal hormones (or gut hormones) constitute a group of hormones secreted by enteroendocrine cells in the stomach, pancreas, and small intestine that control various functions of the digestive organs. Laterstudies showed that most of the gut peptides, such as secretin, cholecystokinin or substance P, were found to play a role of neurotransmitters and neuromodulators in the central and peripheral nervous systems.

Enteroendocrine cells do not form endocrine glands but are spread throughout the digestive tract. They exert their autocrine and paracrine actions that integrate all of gastrointestinal function.

The gastrointestinal hormones can be divided into three main groups based upon their chemical structure.
*"Gastrin-cholecystokinin" family: gastrin and cholecystokinin
*"Secretin" family: secretin, glucagon, vasoactive intestinal peptide and gastric inhibitory peptide
*"Peptide" family: somatostatin, motilin and substance P.

There is some disagreement over what is considered a gastrointestinal hormone. For example, MeSH doesn't include somatostatin or substance P in that category, though it does include them in several other categories. [MeshName|Gastrointestinal+hormones]

New gastrointestinal hormones are still being discovered.

ee also

*hormone, endocrine system
*digestive system, gastrointestinal tract
*peptide YY

References

External links

* [http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/endocrine/gi/overview.html Overview of Gastrointestinal Hormones] - Colorado State University website