Final Answer: Ghrelin Can Suppress Insulin Secretion in Humans, but Is It Clinically Relevant?

摘要

Ghrelin is a 28-amino acid peptide initially isolated from rat and human stomachs as an endogenous ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor type la (GHS-Rla) (1) using an intracellular calcium influx assay on a stable cell expressing rat GHS-R. At the time of its discovery in 1999, ghrelin was known to increase growth hormone release from the pituitary gland by binding to GHS-Rla, and 1 year later, its role in food intake and body adiposity was described (2). Since then, numerous additional effects of ghrelin have been demonstrated, including regulating cell proliferation and survival, apoptosis, inflammation, angio-genesis, development and reproduction as well as metabolism. Recently, it has become of great research interest whether ghrelin also has a role in β-cell function. This research area is particularly important given its potential to lead to the development of novel strategies to increase insulin secretion for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.