title: Ghrelin concentration in cord and neonatal blood: relation to fetal growth and energy balance.
abstract: To investigate the relationship between ghrelin and both fetal and neonatal growth parameters and energy balance, we measured plasma ghrelin concentrations in 54 cord blood samples (male, n = 34; female, n = 20; gestational age, 37.0-41.6 wk; birth weight, 2206-4326 g) and 47 neonatal blood samples (male, n = 27; female, n = 20; postnatal d 3-8). The plasma ghrelin concentrations in cord blood ranged from 110.6-446.1 pmol/liter (median, 206.7 pmol/liter), which were equal to or higher than those in normal weight adults. These values were inversely correlated with birth weight (r = -0.40; P = 0.002), birth length (r = -0.36; P = 0.007), placental weight (r = -0.35; P = 0.01), and IGF-I concentration (r = -0.49; P = 0.0002), but were not significantly correlated with the GH concentration (r = 0.22; P = 0.12). The ghrelin concentrations in small for gestational age newborn were significantly higher than those in appropriate for gestational age newborns (P = 0.0008). The ghrelin concentrations in the vein were significantly higher than those in the artery in 8 cord blood samples (P = 0.01), which suggests that the placenta is an important source of fetal ghrelin. In neonates, the ghrelin concentrations ranged from 133.0-481.7 pmol/liter (median, 268.3 pmol/liter), which were significantly higher than those in cord blood (P < 0.0001). These results suggest that ghrelin may contribute to fetal and neonatal growth.
authors: Department of Pediatrics, University of Tokushima School of Medicine, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan.
authors: Seiko
authors: S
authors: Kitamura
authors: Ichiro
authors: I
authors: Yokota
authors: Hiroshi
authors: H
authors: Hosoda
authors: Yumiko
authors: Y
authors: Kotani
authors: Junko
authors: J
authors: Matsuda
authors: Etsuo
authors: E
authors: Naito
authors: Michinori
authors: M
authors: Ito
authors: Kenji
authors: K
authors: Kangawa
authors: Yasuhiro
authors: Y
authors: Kuroda
mesh_terms: D001724:Birth Weight; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development / Q000502:physiology*; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D054439:Ghrelin; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D036361:Peptide Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay
chemical_list: D054439:Ghrelin; D036361:Peptide Hormones; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I