BACKGROUND Ghrelin is a novel growth hormone-releasing peptide that has been shown to improve cachexia in heart failure and cancer and to ameliorate the hemodynamic and metabolic disturbances in septic shock. Because cytokine-induced inflammation is critical in these pathological states and because the growth hormone secretagogue receptor has been identified in blood vessels, we examined whethe...

Expression of the neuroendocrine marker synaptic vesicle protein 2 (SV2) has been reported in a few cases of gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). The goal of the present study was to assess the relevance of this finding and identify a possible hormone production in these tumors. We chose to study the orexigen ghrelin and its receptor, since these patients are seldom cachexic, even in advanc...

The novel hormone ghrelin is a potent orexigen that may counterbalance leptin. Ghrelin is the only secreted molecule requiring post-translational acylation with octanoic acid to ensure bioactivity. Ghrelin, predominantly derived from the stomach, may target neuroendocrine networks within the central nervous system (CNS) to regulate energy homeostasis. This would require ghrelin to cross the blo...

Ghrelin, first discovered in 1999, is a 28-amino acid peptide hormone involved in the regulation of appetite, insulin secretion and sensitivity, and many neurological effects such as learning, memory, and depression.1-6 Ghrelin has been identified to have a unique posttranslational octanoylation carried out by the enzyme ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT). This distinctive modification is a point...

Ghrelin, a hunger signalling peptide derived from the peripheral tissues, overcomes the satiety signals evoked by anorexigenic molecules, such as cholecystokinin (CCK) and leptin, to stimulate feeding. Using in vivo and in vitro electrophysiological techniques, we show that ghrelin hyperpolarizes neurons and inhibits currents evoked by leptin and CCK-8. Administering a KATP channel antagonist o...

Ghrelin (Grln) is a peptide hormone that is predominantly produced in the stomach and stimulates appetite and induces growth hormone (GH) release. We have previously reported that ghrelin is also expressed in T cells and exerts prothymic and anti-inflammatory effects. However, the biologic relevance of T cell-derived ghrelin remains to be determined. Here, we report that acylated-bioactive ghre...

The ghrelin-ghrelin receptor system is one of the most important mechanisms regulating energy balance and metabolism. Among other actions, central and peripheral administration of ghrelin increases food intake and adiposity. During the last years, many efforts have been made in the investigation of the cellular and molecular mechanisms modulating the effects of ghrelin. One particularity of thi...

Ghrelin, a gastric peptide hormone, may regulate mesenchymal cell development. Here we show that ghrelin promotes myogenesis in vitro in the mouse myoblast cell line C2C12 cells. Cells expressing ghrelin demonstrated a significant increase in the differentiation of premyocytes into myocytes. The mean myogenic index in cells stably expressing ghrelin increased significantly relative to control c...

BACKGROUND A control study was designed to investigate circulating Ghrelin levels in adolescent girls with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) and controls. Eating behavioral disorders, endocrine disorders, abnormal growth pattern and osteopenia have been well documented in AIS. Ghrelin is an orexigenic hormone produced by the stomach which reflects body weight changes and stimulates growth h...

Ghrelin, an orexigenic peptide, exerts immunomodulatory and other effects in the CNS and has neuroprotective properties. Ghrelin is predominantly produced by X/A-like cells in the gastric mucosa. Hence, ghrelin's main source of production lies outside the CNS while important functions of ghrelin are operated by specific receptors in the CNS. We analyzed 82 samples of our repository (45 samples ...