Ghrelin levels are decreased in non-obese prepubertal children born large for gestational age

Abstract

Background: Ghrelin is the natural ligand of GH secretagogue receptor. It has several metabolic functions including regulation of food intake, energy homeostasis, and body weight. An inverse relationship between fasting plasma ghrelin and insulin concentrations has been shown. Being born large for gestational age (LGA) has an increased risk of developing insulin resistance. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate ghrelin levels in LGA born children who have no obesity at prepubertal ages and the effect of intrauterine and postnatal growth on ghrelin levels. Patients and methods: Thirty-two (17F, 15M) LGA born non-obese children (mean (GS.E.M.) age 4.4G0.3 years) were evaluated with respect to glucose, insulin, and ghrelin levels. Their data were compared with that of non-obese 45 (19F, 26M) appropriate for gestational age (AGA) children (mean (GS.E.M.) age 4.0G0.1 years). Results: LGA children, who had similar age and body mass index (BMI) standard deviation score (SDS) as AGA children, had significantly higher insulin (PZ0.044) and at a borderline significance higher homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance levels (PZ0.054) than AGA children. Ghrelin level was significantly lower in LGA born than AGA born children (PZ0.001) even after controlling for age, sex, and BMI (PZ0.006). There were no differences between genders in insulin and ghrelin levels. Multivariate analysis revealed that birth weight was the only significant parameter influencing ghrelin levels (R

AMPK as Target for Intervention in Childhood and Adolescent Obesity

“…This sustained elevation of ghrelin might be needed for the compensatory growth which they are subjected, but it does not correlate to the degree of catch-up growth achieved nor with the levels of insulin found. Similar results were published the following year by Darendeliler et al [31] analyzing prepubertal children who were born large for gestational age, reporting that nonobese prepubertal youngsters had lower ghrelin levels compared to AGA born counterparts, proposing that birth weight is in fact a fundamental determinant in ghrelin levels during childhood. …”

Early growth and postprandial appetite regulatory hormone responses

“…The present results are also in accordance with previous studies of young children which showed that infants who were born with a low birth weight ( 13 ) or born preterm ( 13 , 28 , 29 ) had elevated levels of fasting PYY, reflecting greater satiety. The results from previous studies in which the association between birth weight and fasting levels of ghrelin has been investigated are conflicting, showing no differences ( 14 , 16 ) , decreased ( 13 ) or even elevated ( 15 , 17 ) ghrelin levels among children born with a low birth weight compared with controls. To our knowledge, only one study has investigated the effect of birth weight on postprandial appetite regulatory hormone responses in adulthood, and detected no effect of birth weight ( 22 ) .…”

Relationship Between Breast Milk Ghrelin and Infants’ Serum Ghrelin and Growth in Breastfeeding Infants: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Six articles met the criteria for meta-analysis (19,20,(23)(24)(25)(26). The excluded articles from the study (n=23) included the following: 5 articles presented the effect of breast milk ghrelin on growth in infants (6,18,21,22,27), 8 articles expressed no correlation between infants' serum ghrelin and growth (2, 17, 28-33), 3 articles were of descriptive nature (34-36), and 6 articles had an intervention group (37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42).…”