Low GIP Levels After Body Contouring Surgery Linked to Reduced Appetite | Research

The takeaway

Patients with reduced appetite after body contouring surgery had lower glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide (GIP) levels, suggesting GIP signaling influences appetite regulation post-surgically.

Low GIP = less hunger
Patients with reduced GIP levels after body contouring had diminished appetite, linking this gut peptide to post-surgical appetite regulation

What the researchers found

Low GIP levels correlated with reduced appetite after body contouring surgery, suggesting GIP signaling plays a role in post-surgical appetite regulation.

Why it matters

Understanding how GIP affects appetite is critical for GLP-1/GIP drug development. If low GIP reduces hunger, this challenges the assumption that GIP receptor activation (as in tirzepatide) should increase appetite — yet tirzepatide causes weight loss.

The numbers in context

47 adults studied. Appetite assessed pre-op and 6-10 weeks post-op. Patients scoring ≤25 on CNAQ classified as having reduced appetite. GIP levels correlated with appetite reduction.

How the study worked

Analysis of GIP levels and appetite in patients after body contouring surgery. Correlated hormone levels with appetite scores and weight outcomes.

Who was studied

47 adults undergoing abdominoplasty, thigh lifts, or lower body lift

What this study cannot tell us

Correlative study — low GIP may be a consequence rather than cause of appetite changes. Body contouring involves complex metabolic changes. Small study population.

How to read the evidence

Preliminary evidence: correlative clinical study linking GIP levels to appetite changes in a specific surgical population.

When this study was published

Published in 2025. Contributes to understanding the paradoxical role of GIP in appetite and weight.

The bigger picture

GIP's role in appetite and weight is paradoxical — GIP receptor agonism (tirzepatide) causes weight loss, yet GIP is traditionally considered a fat-promoting hormone. This study adds a piece to the puzzle: low endogenous GIP is associated with reduced appetite, while pharmacological GIP activation may work through different mechanisms.

Questions still open

Does body contouring surgery directly affect GIP-producing cells?
How does the paradox of GIP agonism (tirzepatide) causing weight loss while low GIP also reduces appetite get resolved?
Could GIP levels predict post-surgical appetite and weight outcomes?

Common questions

What is GIP and how does it affect appetite?

GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic peptide) is a gut hormone released after eating. This study found that lower GIP levels were associated with reduced appetite after body contouring surgery. GIP is the same peptide targeted by tirzepatide alongside GLP-1.

If low GIP reduces appetite, why does tirzepatide (which activates GIP) cause weight loss?

This is one of the biggest mysteries in GLP-1/GIP biology. The answer may involve different effects of endogenous vs pharmacological GIP, or the combined GLP-1+GIP activation creating unique signaling. Research is actively investigating this paradox.

Read the original research

Reduced appetite after body contouring is associated with low glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide levels.

Journal of plastic, reconstructive & aesthetic surgery : JPRAS, 111, 299-302

View on PubMed ↗Publisher’s paper ↗

Citation

Ahmed, Mohamed Badie; Syed, Asma; Doi, Suhail A; Badran, Saif; Alsherawi, Abeer; Al-Mohannadi, Fatima Saoud; Khoogaly, Hoda; Abou-Samra, Abdul-Badi; Habib, Abdella M. (2025). Reduced appetite after body contouring is associated with low glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide levels.. Journal of plastic, reconstructive & aesthetic surgery : JPRAS, 111, 299-302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjps.2025.10.020