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Updated: Jun 16, 2026

Measuring Oral Fatty Acid Thresholds, Fat Perception, Fatty Food Liking, and Papillae Density in Humans
Published on: June 4, 2014
New frontiers in gut nutrient sensor research: free fatty acid sensing in the gastrointestinal tract
Satoshi Miyauchi1, Akira Hirasawa, Atsuhiko Ichimura
1Department of Genomic Drug Discovery Science, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University, Japan.
Abstract:
Utilizing the human genome database, the recently developed G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) deorphanizing strategy successfully identified multiple receptors of free fatty acids (FFAs). FFAs have been demonstrated to act as ligands of several GPCRs (FFAR1, FFAR2, FFAR3, and GPR120). These fatty acid receptors are proposed to play critical roles in various types of physiological homeostases. FFAR1 and GPR120 are activated by medium- and long-chain FFAs. In contrast, FFAR2 and FFAR3 are activated by short-chain FFAs. It has been elucidated that these four receptors are expressed in the gastrointestinal tract and have many essential roles as sensors of FFA. In this review, we summarize the physiological and pharmacological function of the receptors in the gastrointestinal tract.
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