title: Prospects for an anti-ghrelin vaccine to treat obesity.
abstract: In the battle to treat the pandemic of obesity, one therapeutic strategy is to block endogenous signals that stimulate appetite and control body weight. One such molecule is ghrelin, a gut peptide that is the only known orexigenic hormone and is a likely contributor to mealtime hunger. The relative importance of ghrelin in long-term body-weight regulation (and thus its promise as an anti-obesity target) is uncertain, however, because genetic and pharmacologic blockade of ghrelin signaling have yielded variable results to date. Using a novel approach of vaccinating rats against their own ghrelin, Zorilla et al. report that animals with high ghrelin-specific antibody titers displayed restricted body weight, without evidence of non-specific inflammation following the vaccine. These results favor a meaningful role for ghrelin in energy homeostasis, hinting at a possible new anti-obesity approach. More broadly, the work of Zorilla et al. supports the feasibility of vaccinations directed against specific autologous targets--immunopharmacotherapy that could potentially be developed to target a wide array of medical conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology, and Nutrition, University of Washington, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA 98108, USA. mollyc@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: Molly J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Carlson
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Cummings
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001835:Body Weight; D054439:Ghrelin; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy*; D036361:Peptide Hormones / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D014612:Vaccines / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D019440:Anti-Obesity Agents; D054439:Ghrelin; D036361:Peptide Hormones; D014612:Vaccines