title: Acylated ghrelin level in patients with OSA before and after nasal CPAP treatment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Patients with newly diagnosed OSA have been reported to have recent weight gain prior to diagnosis. Ghrelin stimulates food intake and increases weight gain. Plasma ghrelin is decreased in obese and increased in lean individuals. Of the two circulating forms of ghrelin, acylated and unacylated, the former is thought to be essential for the biological activity of ghrelin.
  
  
  METHODS
  The plasma levels of the two forms of ghrelin were measured in 21 OSA patients (with a mean of 46.2 sleep-disordered events/h) before and after 1 month of nasal CPAP (nCPAP) treatment, and were compared with those in 14 untreated OSA patients and 13 individuals without OSA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The BMI was significantly higher in the 21 OSA patients than in the non-OSA group as were the baseline acylated (11.4 +/- 5.86 vs 7.19 +/- 3.80 fmol/mL, P = 0.03) and unacylated (84.2 +/- 50.6 vs 48.3 +/- 23.2 fmol/mL, P = 0.02) ghrelin levels. The total ghrelin level was positively correlated with the number of sleep-disordered breathings (P = 0.002). After 1 month of nCPAP treatment, the acylated ghrelin level significantly decreased (P = 0.02) while the unacylated ghrelin level did not (P = 0.09).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Treatment of OSA may play an important role in the management of obesity in these patients by reducing the acylated ghrelin level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan.
authors.forename: Ken-ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chin
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Akamizu
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: Kensuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sumi
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oga
authors.forename: Hisako
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Niimi
authors.forename: Tomomasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsuboi
authors.forename: Shunichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fukuhara
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kangawa
authors.forename: Michiaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mishima
mesh_terms: D000215:Acylation; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D045422:Continuous Positive Airway Pressure; D005260:Female; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D054439:Ghrelin