title: Hyperghrelinemia does not accelerate gastric emptying in Prader-Willi syndrome patients.
abstract: Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is the most common form of syndromic obesity associated with hyperphagia. Because ghrelin stimulates gastric motility in rodents, and PWS patients have 3- to 4-fold higher fasting plasma ghrelin concentrations than normal subjects, we hypothesized that hyperphagia associated with PWS may be partly explained by rapid gastric emptying due to the increased gastric motility caused by ghrelin. We determined gastric emptying times (GETs) and measured ghrelin levels in 11 PWS children and 11 age-, sex-, and body mass index-matched controls using a standard meal containing [(99m)Tc]diaminetriaminepentacetate. Median plasma ghrelin levels before (precibum) and after the GET study were higher in PWS patients than in controls (P = 0.004 and P = 0.001, respectively). Median percent gastric retentions at 90 min after the standard meal were 57.1% (range, 34.0-83.2%) in PWS patients and 40.2% (range, 27.2-60.2%) in controls (P = 0.03). In particular, precibum ghrelin concentrations were not significantly correlated with the rate of gastric emptying in PWS patients (P = 0.153; r = 0.461) or controls (P = 0.911; r = 0.048). Our results show that gastric emptying in PWS is reduced despite higher ghrelin levels, and that the voracious appetite associated with PWS is related to another mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Il-Won Dong, Gang-Nam Gu, Seoul 135-710, Korea.
authors.forename: Yon Ho
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Choe
authors.forename: Dong-Kyu
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Sang Eun
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sang Yong
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Kyung Hoon
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Paik
authors.forename: Hwa Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Yoo Joung
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: An Hee
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jung Sim
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chi Wha
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Su-Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.forename: Eun Kyung
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Kyung Han
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005746:Gastric Emptying / Q000502:physiology*; D054439:Ghrelin; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D036361:Peptide Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D011218:Prader-Willi Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D054439:Ghrelin; D036361:Peptide Hormones