title: Effects of ghrelin on the proliferation and secretion of splenic T lymphocytes in mice.
abstract: Ghrelin, a novel gut--brain peptide predominantly produced by the stomach, displays strong growth hormone (GH)-releasing activity mediated by the hypothalamus-pituitary GH secretagogue receptor (GHS-R). Recently, the ghrelin receptor has also been detected in peripheral systems including immune tissues, suggesting that ghrelin may play an important role in the regulation of immune function. In this paper, we assessed the presence and function of the ghrelin receptor in murine splenic T cells. The enriched T cells express the mRNA of ghrelin and ghrelin receptor mRNA, and there is a significantly positive correlation between them. Moreover, we showed that ghrelin dose-dependently inhibits proliferation of splenic T cells when they are costimulated by anti-CD3. In addition, ghrelin suppressed Th(1) (IL-2 and IFN-gamma) and Th(2) (IL-4 and IL-10) cytokines mRNA expression. These results demonstrate the presence of the ghrelin receptor in murine spleen T lymphocytes and a functional role of ghrelin as a modulator of lymphocyte function. This function of ghrelin may have some relevance to the pathophysiology of immunologic alterations related to metabolism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Peking University Health Science Center, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, PR China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Jin-Song
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Shi-Gong
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D054439:Ghrelin; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D036361:Peptide Hormones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D054439:Ghrelin; D036361:Peptide Hormones