Endocrine Abstracts

Ghrelin is a brain-gut peptide originally identified in the stomach. It binds to and stimulates the growth hormone secretagogue receptor type 1a (GHS-R). The presence of ghrelin in hypothalamic tissue was studied. It has been previously established that neither the synthetic GHSs, nor the endogenous hormone ghrelin, is specific for GH stimulation: they generally also stimulate the HPA axis as well as prolactin release. Since there is no direct stimulatory effect on ACTH releas...

BACKGROUND: Ghrelin is a novel 28-amino acid peptide which was isolated from the rat stomach and has now been shown to have a widespread tissue distribution. Ghrelin is the endogenous ligand of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor type 1a (GHS-R1a), and stimulates growth hormone (GH) release via the hypothalamus as well as by a direct action on the pituitary GHS-R1a. Ghrelin and the GHS-R1a also coexist within the pituitary. There are conflicting data regarding the effects...