Mechanism of Action
Appetite Suppression
Last updated
Reducing hunger signalling, usually through receptors in the hypothalamus and brainstem that integrate hormones from the gut and from fat tissue. Some compounds act directly on those brain circuits. Others act in the gut and reach the brain indirectly, including by slowing stomach emptying. Studies measure the result as reported hunger, as food actually consumed, or both.
Why it matters here
The reported outcome here is often a subjective rating, so it is worth reading whether a record rests on a hunger questionnaire or on weighed food intake before treating the two as equivalent.
What it is not
Reduced hunger is not reduced intake, and neither is a change in weight; people eat when not hungry, and studies measuring only one of the three are common. This is also a separate mechanism from Gastric Emptying Delay, which can feel identical to the person experiencing it but happens in the stomach rather than the brain.
Also called
- appetite suppression
- satiety signalling
- hunger reduction
Satiety signalling refers to the fullness side of the same system. Hunger and satiety are measured with different instruments, and a study of one is not automatically a study of the other.
Compounds carrying this term
None on file yet. This term is in the controlled vocabulary but no compound record currently uses it — which is a statement about our coverage, not about the term.