The impact of insulin-independent, glucagon-induced suppression of total ghrelin on satiety in obesity and type 1 diabetes mellitus

What Was Tested

This controlled clinical trial paper looks at Glucagon and Ghrelin.

The mechanisms underlying glucagon-induced satiety are incompletely understood.

Here the researchers investigated glucagon-suppressive effects on circulating total and acyl-ghrelin, both in obesity and in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), with respect to the role of glucagon in appetite control.

The researchers further aimed to identify a possible mechanistic impact of changes in endogenous insulin.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 13 patients taking part.

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

In their prospective, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study, the researchers investigated the endocrine and metabolic responses to intramuscular glucagon administration in 13 patients with T1DM (6 males, 7 females; body mass index [BMI] 24.8 ± 0.95 kg/m(2)), 11 obese participants (OP; 5 males, 6 females; BMI 34.4 ± 1.7 kg/m(2)), and 13 healthy lean participants (LP; 6 males, 7 females; BMI 21.7 ± 0.6 kg/m(2)).

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as double-blind and placebo-controlled.

Neither the patients nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Glucagon, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Some patients received a placebo instead of Glucagon, giving a reference point.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1, Ghrelin, Glucagon, Obesity, Satiation and Satiety Response.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Glucagon and Ghrelin in 13 patients.

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.

Results are reported in around 8 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2013 (The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism), a journal based in United States.

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