Ghrelin, a novel gastrointestinal hormone involved in growth hormone regulation, has been postulated as a relevant orexigenic peptide released by esplanchnic tissues. Descriptive studies have shown that plasma ghrelin levels rise in states of negative energy balance or fasting while decrease in obesity and after feeding.

In the present study, a novel organ-culture model of gastric tissue explants obtained from rat donors has been validated for ex-vivo experiments. Fasting induced gastric ghrelin release as well as ghrelin mRNA expression that were reflected in plasma. Interestingly, those changes were fully reverted by 15 minutes of refeeding before stomach extraction. Unexpectedly, when animals were allowed 15 minutes before explant extraction to see or smell, but not eat, the food (tease feeding), ghrelin secretion was suppressed just like in gastric explants from refed animals. This effect was blocked when the animals were subjected to surgical vagotomy or treated with atropine sulphate.

In conclusion, gastric explants were a suitable model for testing ghrelin mechanism of secretion in vitro and they were found to maintain memory of the previously received signals. Similar to feeding, tease feeding resulted in suppression of ghrelin discharge by explants.