Anti-ghrelin?

A few months ago I read an article about three obese sisters who had gastric bypass surgery (March 2005, Prevention magazine). One of the interesting points of the article was that people who have this surgery aren't ravenously hungry, even though they are physically able to eat very little.

The reason is due to a hormone called ghrelin, produced by the cells lining the stomach. Ghrelin (named from a Hindu word for "growth") triggers feelings of hunger. When the useable part of the stomach is reduced by gastric bypass surgery, less ghrelin is produced.

I thought - could this be a non-surgical way to counter obesity? Could we find a way to reduce the production of ghrelin?

Then, the April 2, 2005 issue of Science News carried a two and a half page article on ghrelin as well as another, "satiety-signalling" hormone, PYY. Apparently there are some odd tricks the body plays with ghrelin - people who are anorexic have much higher background levels than people who are fat, as if the body is trying to convince the brain to make certain changes.

Now I read, in the May 2005, NewScientist magazine, of a vaccine being developed by Cytos Biotechnology. The vaccine causes the body to form antibodies against ghrelin. An interesting idea (and much like the one I had several months ago!). Will it work?

Based on the information in both the Science News and NewScientist articles, that remains to be seen.

...contrary to what one might expect, obese people have low levels of ghrelin anyway, so reducing the hormone still further is unlikely to influence apetite.
...
But because weight loss by almost any means increases ghrelin levels, ... the vaccine might help people keep their weight down after shedding the pounds by means such as diet or exercise.

[21 May 2005, NewScientist]

Still, anti-ghrelin sounds better than weird diets (which never work for long), amphetamine-induced metabolism boosting, or products such as Fenphen. And, other researchers are looking into related, but different, hormone therapies.

It's all something to keep an eye on.

Anti-ghrelin? ( in category In The News ) - posted at Thu, 02 Jun, 22:31 Pacific | «e»