Uroguanylin: a new actor in the energy balance movie
- C Folgueira1,2,3,
- S Barja-Fernandez1,2,
- P Gonzalez-Saenz1,2,
- V Pena-Leon1,2,
- C Castelao1,2,
- M Ruiz-Piñon1,4,
- F F Casanueva2,5,
- R Nogueiras2,3 and
- L M Seoane1,2⇑
- 1Fisiopatología Endocrina, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Complejo Hospitalario Universitario de Santiago de Compostela (CHUS/SERGAS), Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- 2CIBER Fisiopatología Obesidad y Nutrición (CiberOBN), Instituto Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- 3Department of Physiology, CIMUS, USC, IDIS Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- 4Operative Dentistry and Endodontics, USC, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- 5Laboratorio de Endocrinología Molecular y Celular, USC, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Correspondence should be addressed to L M Seoane: luisamaria.seoane{at}usc.es or Luisa.Maria.Seoane.Camino{at}sergas.es
Abstract
Uroguanylin (UGN) is a potential target in the fight against obesity. The mature protein is released after enzymatic cleavage from its natural precursor, proUGN. UGN is mostly produced in the gut, and its production is regulated by nutritional status. However, UGN is also produced in other tissues such as the kidneys. In the past, UGN has been widely studied as a natriuretic peptide owing to its involvement in several different pathologies such as heart failure, cancer and gastrointestinal diseases. However, recent studies have suggested that UGN also acts as a regulator of body weight homeostasis because it modulates both food intake and energy expenditure. This ultimately results in a decrease in body weight. This action is mediated by the sympathetic nervous system. Future studies should be directed at the potential effects of UGN agonists in regulating body weight in human obesity.
- Received 28 November 2017
- Accepted 4 December 2017
- Made available online as an Accepted Preprint 4 December 2017
- © 2018 Society for Endocrinology
