Serum obestatin/ghrelin ratio is altered in patients after distal gastrectomy.
OBJECTIVE
Ghrelin is a peptide hormone produced mainly in the stomach, and obestatin is derived by proteolytic cleavage of the ghrelin prepro-hormone. The aim of this study was to determine the postoperative serial changes in these hormones and whether hyperplasia of ghrelin-expressing cells occurs in the remnant stomach.


METHODS
We prospectively analyzed serial serum samples of 45 early gastric cancer patients and remnant stomach samples of 24 patients.


RESULTS
The serum obestatin level on day 2 was lower than that on day 0, and it subsequently returned to the level observed on day 0. In contrast, the serum ghrelin level was lower on days 120 and 210 than on day 0. Eventually, the obestatin/ghrelin ratio was significantly high on day 210 (p = 0.0003). Moreover, we did not observe an increase in the number of ghrelin-expressing cells. The number of ghrelin-expressing cells correlated with the serum ghrelin level.


CONCLUSIONS
The serum level of obestatin and ghrelin exhibits a different time course in patients who have undergone gastrectomy, and there was no ghrelin-expressing cell hyperplasia in the remnant stomach despite the decrease in serum ghrelin.
Kim
Sung
S
Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Gang-Nam Gu, Seoul, Korea.
Lee
Jun Haeng
JH
Heo
Jin Seok
JS
Kwak
Min Jung
MJ
Kim
Su Jin
SJ
Sohn
Young Bae
YB
Kim
Sang Eun
SE
Song
Sang Yong
SY
Choe
Yon Ho
YH
Baek
Ji Won
JW
Rha
Mi Yong
MY
Oh
Yoo Joung
YJ
Jin
Dong-Kyu
DK
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D006965:Hyperplasia; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D036361:Peptide Hormones / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000097:blood*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D013270:Stomach / Q000473:pathology; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*
D054439:Ghrelin; D036361:Peptide Hormones; C505799:obestatin, human