ghrelin
English
WOTD – 4 June 2019
Etymology
A diagram of the predicted three-dimensional structure of preproghrelin (green and blue) and ghrelin (green)
From g(rowth) h(ormone)-rel(easing peptide) + -in (suffix forming names of chemical compounds), influenced by Proto-Indo-European *gʰreh₁- (“to grow”):[1] see the December 1999 quotation.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /ˈɡɹɛlɪn/
Audio (UK) (file)
- Rhymes: -ɛlɪn
- Hyphenation: ghre‧lin
Noun
ghrelin (usually uncountable, plural ghrelins)
- (biochemistry) A peptide hormone, secreted in the stomach when empty, that increases appetite and secretion of growth hormone from the pituitary gland. [from 1999]
- 1999 December 9, M[asayasu] Kojima [et al.], “Ghrelin is a Growth-hormone-releasing Acylated Peptide from Stomach”, in Nature, volume 402, number 6762, DOI:, PMID 10604470, abstract, page 656:
- We designate the GH-releasing peptide ‘ghrelin’ (ghre is the Proto-Indo-European root of the word ‘grow’).
- 2006, Masayasu Kojima; Kenji Kangawa, “Ghrelin, an Endogenous Ligand for the Growth Hormone Secretagogue Receptor”, in Fred Nyberg, editor, The Somatotrophic Axis in Brain Function, Burlington, Mass.: Elsevier Academic Press, →ISBN, section III.A (Purification of Ghrelin), figure 2 caption, page 27, column 1:
- Both human and rat ghrelins are 28 amino acid peptides, in which Ser3 is modified by a fatty acid, primarily n-octanoic acid.
- 2006, Michael F[redric] Roizen; Mehmet C[engiz] Oz; with Ted Spiker, Lisa Oz, and Craig Wynett, You, on a Diet: The Owner’s Manual for Waist Management, New York, N.Y.: Free Press, →ISBN, page 44:
- [W]hen you increase ghrelin levels, you stimulate that growth hormone to kick in, and growth hormone builds you not only up but out as well. Your stomach secretes ghrelin in pulses every half hour, sending subtle chemical impulses to your brain—almost like subliminal biological messages (carrot cake, carrot cake, carrot cake).
- 2009, Hélène Volkoff; Saraj Unniappan; Scott P. Kelly, “The Endocrine Regulation of Food Intake”, in Nicholas J. Bernier, Glen Van Der Kraak, Anthony P. Farrell, and Colin J. Brauner, editors, Fish Neuroendocrinology (Fish Physiology; 28), London; Amsterdam: Academic Press, →ISBN, section 2 (Endocrine Regulation), page 434:
- Ghrelin is a 28‐amino acid acylated peptide predominantly secreted by the stomach but also by the brain. In mammals, ghrelin stimulates both GH [growth hormone] secretion and appetite, and it is the only GI [gastrointestinal] hormone with confirmed orexigenic properties […].
- 2011, Palmiero Monteleone, “New Frontiers of Endocrinology in Eating Disorders”, in Roger A. H. Adan and Walter H. Kaye, editors, Behavioral Neurobiology of Eating Disorders (Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences; 6), Heidelberg; Dordrecht: Springer-Verlag, DOI:, →ISBN, ISSN 1866-3370, part III (Genetics, Gender and Heritability), page 194:
- Currently, ghrelin is considered as a “hunger hormone” that signals the brain the need to initiate food consumption. […] After food ingestion, plasma levels of ghrelin drastically decrease. Some but not all studies provided the evidence that in the cephalic phase of food ingestion the vagal efferent system promotes ghrelin secretion […].
- 2022 February 26, Ruth Alexander, “The surprising links between what you eat and how well you sleep”, in BBC News, BBC, retrieved 2022-02-27:
- That is because sleep affects two appetite-controlling hormones, leptin and ghrelin.
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Derived terms
- acylghrelin
- desacylghrelin
- ghrelinemia
- ghrelinergic
- hyperghrelinemia
- preproghrelin
- proghrelin
- teaghrelin
Translations
peptide hormone that increases appetite
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See also
- leptin
- obestatin
References
- Akio Inui [et al.] (March 2004), “Ghrelin, Appetite, and Gastric Motility: The Emerging Role of the Stomach as an Endocrine Organ”, in The FASEB Journal, volume 18, issue 3, DOI:, PMID 15003990, pages 439–456.
Further reading
ghrelin on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
- herling