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Treatment With a Ghrelin Agonist in Outpatient Women With Anorexia Nervosa: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Plain-language guide to PMID 29325236 (2018): double-blind randomized controlled trial study of Ghrelin in 22 women.
Key Facts
- PMID
- 29325236
- Journal
- The Journal of clinical psychiatry
- Year
- 2018
- Study type
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Authors
- Fazeli PK et al. (10 authors)
- DOI
- 10.4088/JCP.17m11585
What This Study Did, in Plain Language
What Was Tested
This randomized controlled trial paper looks at Ghrelin.
To assess the effects of relamorelin-an agonist of the appetite-stimulating hormone ghrelin, which has effects on gastric emptying-on (1) weight gain and (2) gastric emptying in women with anorexia nervosa.
Who Took Part
According to the abstract, 22 women were involved.
PubMed indexes the participants as young adults and adults, women only.
The researchers measured changes in weight and gastric emptying time using a gastric emptying breath test (GEBT) for relamorelin versus placebo after 4 weeks of treatment.
How the Study Was Run
The design is described as randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled.
Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Ghrelin and who got the comparison, which limits bias.
As a double-blind Ghrelin study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.
Some women received a placebo instead of Ghrelin, giving a reference point.
The timeline in the abstract includes 4 weeks.
The study was conducted at the Massachusetts General Hospital Clinical Research Center between March 11, 2013, and February 26, 2015.
What Was Measured
The subject headings attached to it are Anorexia Nervosa, Appetite Stimulants, Gastric Emptying, Ghrelin, Oligopeptides, Outpatients and Weight Gain.
What This Means in Plain Language
The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Ghrelin in 22 women over 4 weeks.
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 5 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.
The publication is from 2018 (The Journal of clinical psychiatry), a journal based in United States.
More context: the Ghrelin compound page, all human trials.
Our Notes on the Compound
Ghrelin: A 28-amino-acid stomach hormone that signals hunger and triggers growth hormone release; studied in human trials as an infusion.
Related Pages
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.