Impact of Endoscopic Gastric Reduction of Ghrelin Receptors Rich Gastric Mucosa on Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Ghrelin is 28 amino acid peptide hormone, approximately 70 % of circulating ghrelin is secreted by the stomach, with most of the remainder originating in duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. Lower amount of secretion outside the gut, including hypothalamus (arcuate nucleus and paraventricular nucleus), pituitary, lung, adrenal cortex, kidney, bone, testis, placenta and pancreatic islet cells Ghrelin enhances the secretion of growth hormone, the stimulation of appetite and food intake, the modulation of gastric acid secretion & motility and the endocrine and exocrine pancreatic secretions. Synthetic ghrelin imitative was shown to increase fat deposition and appetite through an action at the level of the hypothalamus arcuate nucleus mainly the orexigenic neuropeptide Y (NPY) neurons.

Alterations of ghrelin play an important role in appetite fluctuation following meals. The secretion of ghrelin by the stomach depends largely on the nutritional state. Ghrelin levels show pre-prandial increases and postprandial decreases.

Low systemic ghrelin levels have been reported in untreated hyperthyroidism, in male hypogonadism, in the polycystic ovary syndrome, or after total gastrectomy [5, 6].