Incretins: clinical physiology and bariatric surgery--correlating the entero-endocrine system and a potentially anti-dysmetabolic procedure.

The digestive tract is well known for its endocrine functions. Recently, many studies have been reinforcing its role as a therapeutic target for both diabetes and obesity. Losing weight is clinically very difficult for most obese patients and the reason for this could be the effect of the physiological adipostatic system that triggers central nervous stimuli to compensate for variations in food intake and in physical activity. Gut hormones seem to have a key role in this complex, regulating body weight and satiety and contributing to glucose homeostasis. The enteroinsular axis appears to be impaired in both obese and diabetic patients. Recent data on bariatric surgery shows its striking effects on glucose control soon after the procedure, before a significant weight loss is achieved. The procedure appears to work beyond anti-obesity having a key metabolic impact possibly sharing a common mechanism with the new class of agents to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus: the incretin mimetics. This symposium discussed new data on the upcoming perspectives on both the pharmacological and the surgical approach to diabetes and obesity.