The Role of Gut Hormone Peptide YY in Energy and Glucose Homeostasis: Twelve Years On

Abstract

Although the role of peptide YY (PYY) as a regulator of energy homeostasis was first highlighted only in 2002, our understanding of the physiological role of PYY has since rapidly advanced. In recent years, insights from mechanistic studies in patients undergoing bariatric surgery, from pancreatic islet research, from functional neuroimaging studies, and from exercise research have greatly added to the field, and these areas provide the focus of discussion for this narrative review. We critically discuss recent findings relating to the role of PYY in mediating the beneficial effects of bariatric surgery, the role of PYY in glucose homeostasis, the role of hepatoportal PYY in mediating its central physiological effects, the specific modulation of brain regions by PYY, and the exercise-induced PYY response.