Obesity is one of the main challenges of public health in the 21st century. Obesity can induce
a series of chronic metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension and nonalcoholic
fatty liver, which seriously affect human health. Gut-brain axis, the two-direction pathway formed between
enteric nervous system and central nervous system, plays a vital role in the occurrence and development
of obesity. Gastrointestinal signals are projected through the gut-brain axis to nervous system,
and respond to various gastrointestinal stimulation. The central nervous system regulates visceral activity
through the gut-brain axis. Brain-gut peptides have important regulatory roles in the gut-brain axis.
The brain-gut peptides of the gastrointestinal system and the nervous system regulate the gastrointestinal
movement, feeling, secretion, absorption and other complex functions through endocrine, neurosecretion
and paracrine to secrete peptides. Both neuropeptide Y and peptide YY belong to the pancreatic polypeptide
family and are important brain-gut peptides. Neuropeptide Y and peptide YY have functions that
are closely related to appetite regulation and obesity formation. This review describes the role of the gutbrain
axis in regulating appetite and maintaining energy balance, and the functions of brain-gut peptides
neuropeptide Y and peptide YY in obesity. The relationship between NPY and PYY and the interaction
between the NPY-PYY signaling with the gut microbiota are also described in this review.
Neuropeptide Y receptor binding sites in rat brain: differential autoradiographic localizations with 125I-peptide YY and 125I- neuropeptide Y imply receptor heterogeneity