GIP and obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency: Therefore, therapies increasing gut microbe SCFA production could help obese individuals lose weight.123 In addition to SCFAs directly activating autonomic neurons, they can also regulate the release of EEC hormones such as GLP-1124 and GIP.125 These hormones induce potent effects on the host to decrease food intake126 and stimulate insulin release,127 resulting in a huge effort to produce GLP1 and GIP mimetics for obesity and diabetes.97,128 Endogenous release of these peptides could also be therapeutically targeted via modulation of the gut microbiota.