Serum ghrelin levels in patients with Behcet’s disease

INTRODUCTION Behcet's disease (BD) is a chronic, relapsing, systemic vasculitis of unknown etiology. AIM To measure serum ghrelin levels in BD patients and healthy controls and to investigate its association with metabolic syndrome (MetS). MATERIAL AND METHODS Thirty BD patients and 30 healthy individuals were enrolled in the study. Ghrelin levels were measured in blood samples using ELISA. RESULTS The mean serum ghrelin level in BD patients (28.57 ±14.04) was significantly lower compared to healthy controls (40.72 ±23.21) (p = 0.01). The mean serum ghrelin level in BD patients who had MetS (24.18 ±12.73) was lower compared to BD patients who did not have MetS (30.77 ±14.45), but this difference was not significant (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Ghrelin levels were lower in BD patients compared to healthy controls. There was no association between reduced ghrelin levels and MetS; however, there was a negative correlation between ghrelin levels and disease activity.