Ghrelin Level in Patients with Liver Cirrhosis

Abstract

Background. Ghrelin is a gastro-duodenal hormone which plays a major role in the regulation of food intake, energy balance and gastrokinesis. Ghrelin represents a novel biological marker for assessment of the presence as well as the severity of liver cirrhosis. We aimed to measure the level of plasma ghrelin in patients with liver cirrhosis (compensated and decompensated) and to correlate its level with different studied clinical and laboratory parameters. Subjects and methods. 40 cirrhotic patients were included in a cross-sectional study and divided equally according to the Child-Pugh classification into Group I: patients with compensated liver cirrhosis (Child A), and Group II: patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis (Child B|C). Also, 20 age and sex matched healthy subjects were included as a control group (Group III). All patients were subjected to: full history taking, full clinical examination, routine biochemical studies together with estimation of plasma ghrelin level, assessment of the severity of liver disease according to Child-Pugh classification, also, abdominal ultrasonography was done. Results. Plasma ghrelin level was low among cirrhotic patients (both compensated and decompensated) in comparison to normal control subjects. Conclusion. Ghrelin can be used as a serum biomarker for detection and assessment of the severity of liver cirrhosis.

Comprehensive Overview of Sleep Disorders in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease

“…The literature also points out the fact that sleep disturbances in cirrhotics may be associated with impaired secretion of ghrelin [ 98 , 99 ]. Ghrelin is a hormone secreted by enteroendocrine cells, which plays an important role in food intake, sleep-wake cycle, and cognitive regulation, and may also be used as a marker to diagnose malnutrition in patients with CLD [ 98 ]. Normally, ghrelin stimulates appetite and triggers NREM sleep (slow-wave sleep), while sleep-deprivation increases the level of ghrelin.…”

“…The “Expanded Consensus Sleep Diary for Morning” (CSD-M) contains in addition items about early morning awakenings, napping, use of alcohol/caffeine/medication, which have indication to be completed in the morning. The third version, called the “Expanded Consensus Sleep Diary for Evening” (CSD-E) includes the same items as CSD-M, but they are grouped separately and the completion is done both in the morning and in the evening, respectively [ 98 ]. Several studies used sleep diaries to assess SDs among population with CLD [ 49 , 67 , 101 , 102 ].…”

Sarcopenia in the Cirrhotic Patient: Current Knowledge and Future Directions

“…Leptin and ghrelin -Hormones involved in the regulation of appetite may also become imbalanced. Leptin, a hormone secreted by adipose tissue, modulates appetite by stimulating reduction of food consumption, while ghrelin, produced by the stomach, stimulates appetite [30,31,32] . Patients with cirrhosis are demonstrated to have increased levels of leptin, which serves to decrease oral intake; it is noted that leptin levels may fluctuate depending on the amount of fat tissue [11,33,34] .…”

Association of serum osteoprotegerin with severity of chronic liver disease in female patients: A potential biomarker

“… 3 Cirrhosis is one of the complication of CLD and can be characterized as the formation of small irregular non-neoplastic masses that are encircled by dense bands of fibrosis that leads to raised blood pressure in portal venous system and chronic liver failure. 4 …”

“…3 Cirrhosis is one of the complication of CLD and can be characterized as the formation of small irregular non-neoplastic masses that are encircled by dense bands of fibrosis that leads to raised blood pressure in portal venous system and chronic liver failure. 4 RANK, RANKL and OPG are the members of TNF superfamily and osteoprotegerin competes with RANKL for binding with RANK that result in its activation that are necessary to start several biochemical cascades. 5 Osteoprotegerin to osteoclastogenesis inhibitory factor proportion is higher in those having CLD.…”