Head over to the Duke Today to read about research by Diego Bohórquez, PhD, assistant professor of medicine (Gastroenterology).
Bohórquez is studying a cell-to-cell connection between the gut and the nervous system that may change researchers’ understanding of how we sense being full, and how that sensation might be affected by gastric bypass surgery. The findings, which appeared Jan. 2, 2015 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, also shed light on a potential new mechanism giving foodborne viruses access to the brain.
“The study supports the idea that there could be a real biology of gut feelings. As soon as food contacts the wall of the gut, the brain will know in real time what’s going on in the gut,” said Dr. Bohórquez, who conducted the study as a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Rodger Liddle, MD, professor of medicine (Gastroenterology). Read the full article.
Bohórquez is the recent recipient of a K-01 career development award. He presented his research on the sensory mechanisms by which food in our gut triggers the perception of satiety in our brain at Medicine Research Conference in April 2013, and he will give an update at Gastroenterology Grand Rounds on April 8, 2015.