Health Dictionary
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Gastrointestinal hormones
Introduction
Overview
Overview
The gastrointestinal hormones (or gut hormones) constitute a group of hormones secreted by enteroendocrine cells in the stomach, pancreas, and small intestine that control various functions of the digestive organs.
The gastrointestinal hormones can be divided into three main groups based upon their chemical structure.
- Gastrin-cholecystokinin family: gastrin and cholecystokinin
- Secretin family: secretin, glucagon, vasoactive intestinal peptide and gastric inhibitory peptide
- Peptide family: somatostatin, motilin and substance P.
There is some disagreement over what is considered a gastrointestinal hormone. For example, MeSH doesn’t include somatostatin or substance P in that category, though it does include them in several other categories.[1]
New gastrointestinal hormones are still being discovered.
References
References
- ↑ Gastrointestinal+hormones at the US National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
External link
External link
- Overview of Gastrointestinal Hormones – Colorado State University website