Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Subcutaneous administration of ghrelin stimulates energy intake in healthy lean human volunteers

International Journal of Obesity volume 30, pages 293–296 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Background:

The gastric hormone ghrelin appears a useful agent to stimulate food intake in people with anorexia of illness. The loss of ghrelin's acyl group renders it inactive, thus it has been thought that subcutaneous administration may be problematic.

Objective:

To investigate whether human subjects are sensitive to the effects of ghrelin administered by single subcutaneous injection.

Study design:

Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Subjects:

Sixteen healthy lean volunteers (eight men and eight women).

Protocol:

Fasted subjects received subcutaneous injections of ghrelin (3.6 nmol/kg) or saline. After 30 min, a buffet breakfast was served.

Results:

Ghrelin injection increased energy intake by 27% (ghrelin 5076±691 kJ versus saline 4230±607 kJ, P=0.04). Ghrelin appeared to enhance the perceived palatability of the food offered (palatability score: ghrelin 81.1±3.6 versus saline 70.0±4.4; P=0.03).

Conclusions:

These results suggest that subcutaneous ghrelin is effective at stimulating energy intake and improving palatability and may be of direct use in the treatment of appetite loss.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2

References

  1. Plata-Salaman CR . Strategies for potential manipulation of anorexia during acute and chronic disease. Nutrition 1995; 11 (5 Suppl): 702–704.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Neary NM, Small CJ, Wren AM, Lee JL, Druce MR, Palmieri C et al. Ghrelin increases energy intake in cancer patients with impaired appetite: acute, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2004; 89: 2832–2836.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Kojima M, Hosoda H, Date Y, Nakazato M, Matsuo H, Kangawa K . Ghrelin is a growth-hormone-releasing acylated peptide from stomach. Nature 1999; 402: 656–660.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Cummings DE, Purnell JQ, Frayo RS, Schmidova K, Wisse BE, Weigle DS . A preprandial rise in plasma ghrelin levels suggests a role in meal initiation in humans. Diabetes 2001; 50: 1714–1719.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Wren AM, Small CJ, Ward HL, Murphy KG, Dakin CL, Taheri S et al. The novel hypothalamic peptide ghrelin stimulates food intake and growth hormone secretion. Endocrinology 2000; 141: 4325–4328.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Tschop M, Smiley DL, Heiman ML . Ghrelin induces adiposity in rodents. Nature 2000; 407: 908–913.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Wren AM, Seal LJ, Cohen MA, Brynes AE, Frost GS, Murphy KG et al. Ghrelin enhances appetite and increases food intake in humans. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2001; 86: 5992.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Enomoto M, Nagaya N, Uematsu M, Okumura H, Nakagawa E, Ono F et al. Cardiovascular and hormonal effects of subcutaneous administration of ghrelin, a novel growth hormone-releasing peptide, in healthy humans. Clin Sci (London) 2003; 105: 431–435.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Flint A, Raben A, Blundell JE, Astrup A . Reproducibility, power and validity of visual analogue scales in assessment of appetite sensations in single test meal studies. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2000; 24: 38–48.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Nagaya N, Kojima M, Uematsu M, Yamagishi M, Hosoda H, Oya H et al. Hemodynamic and hormonal effects of human ghrelin in healthy volunteers. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 2001; 280: R1483–R1487.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Dakin CL, Small CJ, Batterham RL, Neary NM, Cohen MA, Patterson M et al. Peripheral oxyntomodulin reduces food intake and body weight gain in rats. Endocrinology 2004; 145: 2687–2695.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Marzullo P, Verti B, Savia G, Walker GE, Guzzaloni G, Tagliaferri M et al. The relationship between active ghrelin levels and human obesity involves alterations in resting energy expenditure. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2004; 89: 936–939.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Akamizu T, Shinomiya T, Irako T, Fukunaga M, Nakai Y, Nakai Y et al. Separate measurement of plasma levels of acylated and desacyl ghrelin in healthy subjects using a new direct ELISA assay. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2005; 90: 6–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Professor Malcolm Allison, Dr Mandy Donaldson, the Sir John McMichael Centre and the volunteers who participated in the study. We also thank the MRC and Wellcome Trust for support. MD and NN are funded by Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Training Fellowships, MP is funded by BBSRC and MM by a Gulbenkian Foundation Grant.

Author information

Author notes

  1. M R Druce and N M Neary: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Metabolic Medicine, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital Campus, London, UK

    M R Druce, N M Neary, C J Small, J Milton, M Monteiro, M Patterson, M A Ghatei & S R Bloom

Authors
  1. M R Druce
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. N M Neary
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. C J Small
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. J Milton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. M Monteiro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. M Patterson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. M A Ghatei
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. S R Bloom
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S R Bloom.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Druce, M., Neary, N., Small, C. et al. Subcutaneous administration of ghrelin stimulates energy intake in healthy lean human volunteers. Int J Obes 30, 293–296 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803158

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803158

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links