This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 147/1/23    most recent Author Manuscript (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Drazen, D. L. Articles by Woods, S. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Drazen, D. L. Articles by Woods, S. C.

Effects of a Fixed Meal Pattern on Ghrelin Secretion: Evidence for a Learned Response Independent of Nutrient Status

Department of Psychiatry (D.L.D., R.J.S., S.C.W.), Genome Research Institute, and Department of Internal Medicine (T.P.V., D.A.D.), University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Torsten P. Vahl, Genome Research Institute, University of Cincinnati, 2170 East Galbraith Road, Building E, Room 315, Cincinnati, Ohio 45237. E-mail: torsten.vahl{at}uc.edu.

Circulating levels of the orexigenic peptide ghrelin increase during fasting and decrease with refeeding. Exogenous ghrelin administration is a potent stimulus for food intake in rodents and humans. In subjects on fixed feeding schedules, ghrelin increases before each meal, raising the possibility that anticipation of meals, in addition to effects of fasting and feeding, contributes to ghrelin secretion. To distinguish among these regulatory influences, plasma ghrelin profiles were generated in freely fed rats and in meal-fed rats trained to consume their daily calories over a 4-h period in the light phase. In freely feeding rats, plasma ghrelin levels increased to a peak of 778 ± 95 pg/ml just before the onset of the dark. Similarly, in meal-fed rats anticipating a large meal of either chow or Ensure at their usual feeding time, plasma ghrelin increased steadily over the 2 h preceding the meal to peaks of 2192 ± 218 and 2075 ± 92 pg/ml, respectively. When freely fed rats were food deprived for a time equivalent to meal-fed rats, there was no peak of plasma ghrelin. In addition, eating-induced suppression of the ghrelin response differed significantly between meal-fed rats and ad libitum-fed rats receiving meals of similar size. These findings indicate that anticipation of eating, as well as fasting/feeding status, influences pre- and postprandial plasma ghrelin levels in rats. Together, these data are consistent with a role for ghrelin in the regulation of anticipatory processes involved in food intake and nutrient disposition.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K Scrimgeour, M J Gresham, L R Giles, P C Thomson, P C Wynn, and R E Newman Ghrelin secretion is more closely aligned to energy balance than with feeding behaviour in the grower pig J. Endocrinol., July 1, 2008; 198(1): 135 - 145. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Ariga, K. Imai, C. Chen, C. Mantyh, T. N. Pappas, and T. Takahashi Fixed feeding potentiates interdigestive gastric motor activity in rats: importance of eating habits for maintaining interdigestive MMC Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol, March 1, 2008; 294(3): G655 - G659. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. M. Frecka and R. D. Mattes Possible entrainment of ghrelin to habitual meal patterns in humans Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol, March 1, 2008; 294(3): G699 - G707. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. J Moran, M. Noakes, P. M Clifton, G. A Wittert, C. W Le Roux, M. A Ghatei, S. R Bloom, and R. J Norman Postprandial ghrelin, cholecystokinin, peptide YY, and appetite before and after weight loss in overweight women with and without polycystic ovary syndrome Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, December 1, 2007; 86(6): 1603 - 1610. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. M. Seoane, O. Al-Massadi, J. E. Caminos, S. A. Tovar, C. Dieguez, and F. F. Casanueva Sensory Stimuli Directly Acting at the Central Nervous System Regulate Gastric Ghrelin Secretion. An ex Vivo Organ Culture Study Endocrinology, August 1, 2007; 148(8): 3998 - 4006. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Zizzari, R. Longchamps, J. Epelbaum, and M. T. Bluet-Pajot Obestatin Partially Affects Ghrelin Stimulation of Food Intake and Growth Hormone Secretion in Rodents Endocrinology, April 1, 2007; 148(4): 1648 - 1653. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. J. Clegg, L. M. Brown, J. M. Zigman, C. J. Kemp, A. D. Strader, S. C. Benoit, S. C. Woods, M. Mangiaracina, and N. Geary Estradiol-Dependent Decrease in the Orexigenic Potency of Ghrelin in Female Rats Diabetes, April 1, 2007; 56(4): 1051 - 1058. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. E. Foster-Schubert and D. E. Cummings Emerging Therapeutic Strategies for Obesity Endocr. Rev., December 1, 2006; 27(7): 779 - 793. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Naslund and J. G. Kral Impact of Gastric Bypass Surgery on Gut Hormones and Glucose Homeostasis in Type 2 Diabetes Diabetes, December 1, 2006; 55(Supplement_2): S92 - S97. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. K. Chelikani, A. C. Haver, and R. D. Reidelberger Ghrelin Attenuates the Inhibitory Effects of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 and Peptide YY(3-36) on Food Intake and Gastric Emptying in Rats Diabetes, November 1, 2006; 55(11): 3038 - 3046. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. Teff Learning Hunger: Conditioned Anticipatory Ghrelin Responses in Energy Homeostasis Endocrinology, January 1, 2006; 147(1): 20 - 22. [Full Text] [PDF]