Abstract
Introduction: No data are available about the plasma levels of active ghrelin (AGH) in obesity. The present study investigates the AGH levels in obese and control children during oral glucose tolerance test.
Patients and methods: Eleven obese (age [mean ± SEM]: 14.3 ± 0.9 yr, body mass index (BMI): 30.2 ± 1.6 kg/m2) and nine age-matched control (age: 15.8 ± 0.5 yr, BMI: 21.2 ± 0.7 kg/m2) children were investigated. AGH, insulin, glucose, growth hormone (GH) were determined by commercially available RIA kits before and 30, 60 and 120 min after glucose load (75g). Plasma leptin concentrations were measured at 0 min by RIA kit. Comparative analyses between and within groups were calculated by Mann-Whitney U test and ANOVA followed by Dunett post hoc test. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM.
Results: Fasting plasma insulin (32.4 ± 5.6 vs. 16.2 ± 3.0 microU/ml) and leptin (15.2 ± 1.3 vs. 7.2 ± 1.7 microg/l) levels were significantly higher, while AGH (66.3 ± 6.7 vs 97.2 ± 14.4 pg/ml) and GH (0.5 ± 0.2 vs. 3.1 ± 0.8 microg/l) concentrations were significantly lower in obese children, than in controls. The AGH levels decreased significantly at 30 and 60 min in the control group (30 min: 53.3 ± 9.9; 60 min: 57.4± 7.0 pg/ml), but not in the obese group (30 min: 64.7 ± 9.6 pg/ml; 60 min: 49.3 ± 4.6 pg/ml). After 60 min AGH increased in both groups, especially in obese children. Thus, in the obese group the AGH levels at 120 min (91.6 ± 9.8 pg/ml) were significantly higher than the baseline levels (66.3 ± 6.7 pg/ml), while they were lower in controls.
Conclusion: The results suggest that the AGH response to glucose is blunted in the first hour and upregulated in the second hour in the obese children.
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Molnar, D., Lanyi, E., Csernus, K. et al. 255 Active Ghreline Levels in Childhood Obesity. Pediatr Res 58, 398 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-200508000-00284
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-200508000-00284