Roux-en-Y gastric bypass

effects on feeding behavior and underlying mechanisms

Manning, Sean
Pucci, Andrea
Batterham, Rachel L.

¹Centre for Obesity Research, Rayne Institute, Department of Medicine, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
²School of Medicine, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
³Centre for Weight Loss, Metabolic, and Endocrine Surgery, University College London Hospitals, London, United Kingdom.
⁴National Institute of Health Research, University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre, London, United Kingdom.

Address correspondence to: Rachel Batterham, Centre for Obesity Research, University College London, Rayne Building, 5 University Street, London WC1E 6JJ, United Kingdom. Phone: 44.207.679.0991; E-mail: [email protected].

Journal of Clinical Investigation 125(3):p 939-948, March 2, 2015. | DOI: 10.1172/JCI76305

Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment for severe obesity, producing marked sustained weight loss with associated reduced morbidity and mortality. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGBP), the most commonly performed procedure, was initially viewed as a hybrid restrictive-malabsorptive procedure. However, over the last decade, it has become apparent that alternative physiologic mechanisms underlie its beneficial effects. RYGBP-induced altered feeding behavior, including reduced appetite and changes in taste/food preferences, is now recognized as a key driver of the sustained postoperative weight loss. The brain ultimately determines feeding behavior, and here we review the mechanisms by which RYGBP may affect central appetite-regulating pathways.