Summary:
Interoception refers to the ability to sense the internal state of the body. For example, interoception refers to the body-to-brain communication that allows us to know whether we are hungry or full, have adequate amounts of oxygen in our lungs, or that our blood pressure is elevated. This project delves deeply into how signals from the heart and gut are relayed to the brain and whether these signals can be targeted to relieve cardiometabolic disease.
Details:
We are pursuing several projects that relate to this concept and examine how genetically-defined peripheral neuron populations may be used to understand the role of interoception in cardiometabolic function. The overall goal is to not only understand mechanisms that underlie how the brain perceives sensations arising from the cardiovascular and digestive systems, but also to determine whether specific populations of vagal afferents may be targeted to treat cardiometabolic diseases. For example, we recently published a study in the Journal of Neuroscience that provides evidence for the efficacy of alleviating hypertension by specifically targeting angiotensin receptor-expressing vagal afferents (PMID: 38242697). We have also determined that vagal afferents expressing oxytocin receptors transmit mechanosensory information from the GI tract and cardiovascular systems, and serve to regulate cardiometabolic parameters (PMID: 39824919). Ongoing studies are expanding upon these findings to further understand cardiometabolic interoception and determine whether altered interoception contributes to and may be targeted to alleviate disease.
This project is supported by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (see: https://reporter.nih.gov/search/asqn-UHqt0ivK7jh2CNu-g/project-details/11072917#description).
