Sensing of glucose in the gastrointestinal tract

Abstract

In general, nutrient sensing mechanisms in the intestine are not well understood. Potential sensors include the terminals of extrinsic afferent nerves, enteric nerves, endocrine cells and other epithelial cells including enterocytes and immune cells. This short review will concentrate on the neural pathways that are activated by the presence of glucose in the intestinal lumen and the role of a specialized endocrine cell, the enterochromaffin cell in glucose-sensing and the subsequent activation of extrinsic neural pathways.