Cholinergic regulation of ghrelin and peptide YY release may be impaired in obesity

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Peptide YY and Ghrelin in this randomized controlled trial publication.

Ghrelin and peptide YY (PYY) are both hormones derived from the gastrointestinal tract involved in appetite regulation.

The cholinergic part of the vagal nerve is involved in the regulation of glucose and insulin.

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of the cholinergic antagonist atropine on ghrelin, PYY, glucose, and insulin under basal conditions and after meal ingestion in lean and obese subjects.

Who Took Part

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults, both men and women.

Eight lean and eight obese subjects were included in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study with 4 study days in randomized order (atropine/placebo +/- breakfast).

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Peptide YY and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

As a double-blind Peptide YY study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

Some participants received a placebo instead of Peptide YY, giving a reference point.

Each person switched between Peptide YY and the comparison at some point, usually with a gap in between.

Plasma ghrelin, PYY, insulin, and glucose were measured.

Hunger and satiety feelings were rated on a 10-cm visual analog scale.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Atropine, Blood Glucose, Cholinergic Fibers, Eating, Gastrointestinal Tract, Ghrelin and Heart Rate.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Peptide YY and Ghrelin.

Its findings take up roughly 4 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2008 (Diabetes), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Peptide YY compound page and the Ghrelin compound page, all human trials.