The discovery belongs to a group of biologists from Queen Mary University of London. Scientists have discovered the neurohormone bombesin, which plays a key role in regulating the feeling of hunger, writes EurekAlert. At the same time, bombesin is an evolutionarily ancient neurohormone. As the authors of the work established, it controlled the feeling of hunger in animals long before the appearance of the first vertebrates.
The findings are based on experiments with starfish (Asterias rubens) and other echinoderms, such as sea urchins and sea cucumbers. It turned out that bombesin controlled the feeding behavior of all individuals. For example, when the hormone was injected into starfish, their food intake slowed down.
The discovery sheds light on the evolutionary origins of feeding behaviour in animals. “The implication is that this function goes back to the common ancestor of starfish, humans and other vertebrates and was present more than half a billion years ago,” said co-author Maurice Elphick.
The scientists now plan to develop drugs that act on the new target to combat obesity. They also plan to use the new data to study the behavior of animals that are migrating to new places in search of food due to the effects of global warming.
Previously, other scientists had discovered another hormone, raptin, which is produced by the hypothalamus during sleep and has a direct effect on appetite and metabolism. The findings of both studies clearly show how little science knows about mammalian feeding behavior.