Abstract
Ghrelin is the only known circulating hormone with strong orexigenic activity. Ghrelin is expressed in several tissues, but the main source of endocrine-active plasma ghrelin is the digestive tract, specifically the oxyntic glands of the stomach. The administration of ghrelin induced a marked increase in orexigenic activity and body weight. Furthermore, when ghrelin action was neutralized by the administration of specific anti-ghrelin IgG, food intake (fasting-induced refeeding as well as dark-phase feeding) was found to be reduced in rats when compared with vehicle injected controls. Although pharmacological effects of ghrelin as well as its origin from the stomach point to a physiological role in the regulation of food intake, targeted mouse mutagenesis indicates that ghrelin-deficient mice have normal food intake and differ in body weight and fat mass from wild-type littermates only if early and chronically exposed to a high-fat diet. Moreover, efferent projections of ghrelin-immunopositive neurons reach key circuits of central energy balance regulation.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Handbook of Biologically Active Peptides |
| Publisher | Elsevier Inc. |
| Pages | 953-960 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780123694423 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2006 |
| Externally published | Yes |