Speaker

Jiqiu Wang

Time

2024.11.06 16:00-17:30

Abstract

Excessive consumption of high-fat and high-calorie foods is a primary contributor to obesity, and reducing fat absorption is a significant focus in obesity research. Physiology textbooks typically describe the absorption of intestinal fats as an autonomous process occurring within the digestive organs; however, there is currently little evidence suggesting that this process is regulated by the central nervous system. Professor Wang Jiqiu’s team recently discovered that intestinal fat absorption is directly regulated by a specific nucleus in the brain. Furthermore, they found that the herbal compound puerarin, derived from the traditional Chinese medicine kudzu root, can inhibit a subgroup of neurons within this nucleus, resulting in fat reduction by decreasing the excitability of the "brain-gut axis." This research was published in the latest issue of Nature on October 24, along with a "Nature Briefing" update from the journal.

Bio

As Co-Principal Investigator of the Genetics of Obesity in Chinese Youth (GOCY) study, Professor Wang Jiqiu focuses on researching the mechanisms and interventions related to obesity. He has discovered an unknown physiological phenomenon involving brain-gut axis regulation of fat absorption (Nature, 2024), identified the “RSPO1–LGR4” pathway as a novel cause of central obesity (Endocr Rev, 2023; Nat Cell Biol, 2013), and collaboratively proposed the concept of the "traditional Jiangnan diet" (JCEM, 2022).