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Updated: Jul 20, 2026

Spatiotemporal Mapping of Motility in Ex Vivo Preparations of the Intestines
Published on: January 27, 2016
Ileal brake: neuropeptidergic control of intestinal transit
Gregg W Van Citters1, Henry C Lin
1Division of Gastroinestinal and Liver Diseases, Department of Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
Abstract:
Digestion and absorption of a meal are time-intensive processes. To optimize digestion and absorption, transit of the meal through the gastrointestinal tract is regulated by a complex integration of neuropeptidergic signals generated as the jejunal brake and ileal brake response to nutrients. Mediators involved in the slowing of transit responses include peptide YY (PYY), chemosensitive afferent neurons, intestinofugal nerves, noradrenergic nerves, myenteric serotonergic neurons, and opioid neurons. The activation of this circuitry modifies the peristaltic reflex to convert the intestinal motility pattern from propagative to segmenting. Fat is the most potent trigger of these transit control mechanisms. The integrated circuitry of gut peptides and neurons involved in transit control in response to nutrients is described in this review.
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