Four-hour infusion of hydrocortisone does not suppress the nocturnal increase of circulating acyl- or desacyl-ghrelin concentrations in healthy young adults

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Ghrelin, published as a clinical trial.

The objective of the study was to determine whether a 4-hour infusion of hydrocortisone given at a time of low endogenous cortisol concentrations (11:00 pm to 3:00 am) acutely suppresses acyl- and desacyl-ghrelin.

Why It Was Studied

Ghrelin is a 28-amino acid peptide released from the stomach.

Ghrelin is found in the circulation in two forms: acyl- and desacyl-ghrelin.

Who Took Part

PubMed indexes the participants as teenagers, young adults and adults, men only.

The volunteers received either a 4-hour (11:00 pm to 3:00 am) infusion of hydrocortisone or a saline infusion.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a single-blind and placebo-controlled study.

In this single-blind Ghrelin study one party knew the assignments and the other did not.

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

Plasma acyl- and desacyl-ghrelin concentrations (in-house two site sandwich assay) and ACTH, cortisol, insulin, GH, and glucose levels were measured every 10 minutes for 16 hours (5:00 pm to 9:00 am).

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Adrenocorticotropic Hormone, Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Blood Glucose, Circadian Rhythm, Ghrelin, Healthy Volunteers and Hydrocortisone.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a single-blind and placebo-controlled study of Ghrelin.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 5 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2014 (The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism), a journal based in United States.

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