The satiety effect of cholecystokinin: a progress report

The satiety effect of cholecystokinin (CCK) that was first observed in rats has now been extended to chickens, rabbits, pigs, sheep, rhesus monkeys, lean mice, genetically obese mice and rats, neurologically obese rats, lean men and women, and obese men. The effect is specific and can be obtained in animals and humans without reports or signs of sickness. The mechanism of the effect is unknown, but the gastric vagal fibers are necessary for the effect. This has led to the hypothesis that the satiety effect is due to activation of vagal afferent fibers that inhibit the central control system of feeding by CCK acting directly on recently described vagal CCK receptors and/or indirectly through a gastric smooth muscle effect that vagal receptors are sensitive to.