title: Serum obestatin/ghrelin ratio is altered in patients after distal gastrectomy.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Gang-Nam Gu, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jun Haeng
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jin Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Heo
authors.forename: Min Jung
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kwak
authors.forename: Su Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young Bae
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.forename: Sang Eun
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sang Yong
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Yon Ho
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Choe
authors.forename: Ji Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.forename: Mi Yong
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Rha
authors.forename: Yoo Joung
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Dong-Kyu
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Jin
mesh_terms: 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*
chemical_list: D054439:Ghrelin; D036361:Peptide Hormones; C505799:obestatin, human