Changes in ghrelin and obestatin levels before and after a meal in children with simple obesity and anorexia

What Was Tested

This observational study looks at Ghrelin.

Obestatin and ghrelin both have effects on the hypothalamus which controls food intake.

The researchers hypothesize that the circulating levels of obestatin and ghrelin may change after a meal and might be different between obesity and anorexia, which might be relevant to anorexia or obesity.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 25 children taking part.

PubMed indexes the participants as young children and children, both men and women.

Fifteen children with obesity, 25 children with anorexia and 17 normal-weight healthy controls were enrolled in the study.

How the Study Was Run

The preprandial and postprandial glucose, insulin, total ghrelin and obestatin tests were completed in the three groups.

The values of these indices were compared.

What Was Measured

The researchers hypothesize that the circulating levels of obestatin and ghrelin may change after a meal and might be different between obesity and anorexia, which might be relevant to anorexia or obesity.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Anorexia, Body Mass Index, Eating, Fasting, Ghrelin, Obesity and Postprandial Period.

What This Means in Plain Language

This is an observational study of Ghrelin in 25 children.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 4 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2013 (Hormone research in paediatrics), a journal based in Switzerland.

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