Lærke Smidt Gasbjerg

Hormones from the gut are transported around the body via the bloodstream, affecting a range of key functions in humans and other mammals.

‘A total of 18–20 hormones play a part in regulating functions such as energy conversion and the feeling that tells us we’re full. They also affect our cardiovascular system and bones and are involved in disorders such as type 2 diabetes and obesity. The behaviour of our gut hormones is actually pretty complex, but it's an extremely exciting field,’ says Lærke Smidt Gasbjerg.

Gasbjerg is a doctor and postdoc at the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen, and she is one of the five young scientists who have recently been awarded a 2021 Lundbeck Foundation Talent Prize.

She developed her interest in understanding the influence of gut hormones on a range of key biochemical processes during her medical studies.

‘And I gradually chose to focus on GIP, the gut hormone that plays a key role in regulating our blood sugar,’ Gasbjerg explains.

‘GIP is the gut hormone that primarily regulates the increase in blood sugar and insulin levels when we eat. And GIP helps this process run efficiently. We can also see that GIP is less effective in people who are either obese or have type 2 diabetes. The hormone could therefore have potential in connection with drugs to treat obesity – and maybe also for treatment of type 2 diabetes,’ says Gasbjerg.

Some years ago, Lærke Smidt Gasbjerg was involved in developing a so-called GIP receptor inhibitor. The aim was to be able to study GIP’s biochemical functions – both in healthy individuals and in people suffering from a variety of diseases.

When this inhibitor is given to an individual, GIP stops working. This gives us an insight into the gut hormone’s more specific role.

It also provides an understanding of how GIP affects the cardiovascular system – and this is the field Gasbjerg will now be studying in more detail by way of a trial:

‘In addition to GIP, the trial – using healthy subjects – will include another gut hormone, GLP-2. The aim is to investigate whether – and if so, how – these two gut hormones affect the blood vessels. This is still a poorly explored field.’

Lærke Smidt Gasbjerg also seeks to investigate whether these two gut hormones are the cause of blood flow to the digestive system when we eat:

‘If that’s the case, it may help explain why the blood supply to the brain is so low in some people just after they’ve eaten that they feel dizzy. This is a problem experienced by around 15% of the over sixties.’