Pharmacodynamic hormonal effects of anamorelin, a novel oral ghrelin mimetic and growth hormone secretagogue in healthy volunteers

Plain-language guide to PMID 19196529 (2009): double-blind randomized controlled trial study of Ghrelin and Anamorelin (non-peptide).

Key Facts

PMID: 19196529
Journal: Growth hormone & IGF research : official journal of the Growth Hormone Research Society and the International IGF Research Society
Year: 2009
Study type: Randomized Controlled Trial
Authors: Garcia JM et al. (2 authors)
DOI: 10.1016/j.ghir.2008.12.003

What This Study Did, in Plain Language

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial paper looks at Ghrelin and Anamorelin (non-peptide).

However, clinical use of ghrelin is limited because it has a short half-life and must be administered parenterally.

Anamorelin is a novel, orally active, non-peptidic ghrelin mimetic and growth hormone secretagogue.

Their objective was to evaluate its hormonal effects in healthy subjects.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are teenagers, young adults and adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

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

Because people in this Ghrelin study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Blinding on both sides kept the participants and researchers unaware of who received Ghrelin.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with Ghrelin could be set against what happens without it.

A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study evaluated the short-term effects of anamorelin on GH, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3), prolactin, ACTH, LH, FSH, TSH, cortisol, insulin and glucose.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Adrenocorticotropic Hormone, Blood Glucose, Follicle Stimulating Hormone, Ghrelin, Hormones, Human Growth Hormone and Hydrocortisone.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Ghrelin and Anamorelin (non-peptide).

Its findings take up roughly 7 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2009 (Growth hormone & IGF research : official journal of the Growth Hormone Research Society and the International IGF Research Society), a journal based in Scotland.

More context: the Ghrelin compound page and the Anamorelin (non-peptide) compound page, all human trials.

Our Notes on the Compounds

Ghrelin: A 28-amino-acid stomach hormone that signals hunger and triggers growth hormone release; studied in human trials as an infusion.

Anamorelin (non-peptide): An oral ghrelin-receptor agonist approved in Japan (Adlumiz) for cancer cachexia; it raises GH and IGF-1 and increases appetite and lean mass.

Source: PubMed record. This explanation is written by PeptideWhiz from the public record. For research and education only. Not medical advice; no dosing information is given.