AUTHOR=de Wouters d’Oplinter Alice , Huwart Sabrina J. P. , Cani Patrice D. , Everard Amandine 

TITLE=Gut microbes and food reward: From the gut to the brain

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroscience

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2022.947240

DOI=10.3389/fnins.2022.947240

ISSN=1662-453X

ABSTRACT=Inappropriate food behavior is one of the main drivers for fat mass development leading to obesity. Importantly the gut microbiota has emerged as a key actor regulating food intake acting mainly on the hypothalamus, and thereby controlling hunger or satiety feelings. However, food intake is also regulated by the hedonic and reward systems leading to food intake based on pleasure (i. e. non-homeostatic regulation of food intake). This review focus on both the homeostatic and the non-homeostatic regulations of food intake and the implication of the gut microbiota on the regulation of these systems. The gut-brain axis is involved in the communications between the gut microbes and the brain to modulate host food intake behaviors through systemic and nervous pathways. Therefore, here we describe several mediators of the gut-brain axis including gastrointestinal hormones, neurotransmitters, bioactive lipids as well as bacterial metabolites and compounds. The modulation of gut-brain axis by gut microbes is deeply addressed in the context of host food intake with a specific focus on hedonic feeding. Finally, we also discuss possible gut microbiota-based therapeutic approaches that could lead to potential clinical applications to restore food reward alterations. Therapeutic applications to tackle these dysregulations is of utmost importance since most of the available solutions to treat obesity present low success rate.