Suggestion of new possibilities in approaching individual variability in appetite through constitutional typology: a pilot study.
BACKGROUND
Appetite is intricately connected to eating behaviors and shows a high individual variability. In an attempt to approach the problem of gut hormone profiles, appetite, and eating behaviors at the individual level, we have adopted a constitutional typing system widely used in traditional East-Asian medicine, the Sasang constitutional typology, in order to determine the individual variations in appetite, eating behavior, and weight change.


METHODS
This pilot study was designed to investigate the variability of appetite among individuals by tracking the gut hormone patterns across different constitutional types. Pre- and post-prandial concentrations of anorectic (peptide YY (PYY), glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1)) and orexigenic (active ghrelin) gut hormones were measured in healthy, normal-weight (18.5 kg/m2 ≤BMI <23 kg/m2) male subjects aged 20-35 (Soyang (SY) (n = 9), Taeeum (TE) (n = 9), and Soeum (SE) (n = 10) constitutional types).


RESULTS
Significant differences were found only in the PYY concentrations across the three groups (p = 0.031). The PYY concentration peaked at 30-min post-prandial in the SE group and was significantly higher compared to the other two groups (p = 0.004). The GLP-1 concentration peaked at 15-min post-prandial in the SE group (not significant). The ghrelin levels at 30-min pre-prandial were relatively lower in the TE group compared to the other groups (not significant).


CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, although with weak statistical power, meaningful gut hormone patterns specific to each constitutional type were discovered in this pilot study, which could offer a new method of approaching the problem of appetite and eating behavior from the angle of individual variability in appetite.
Department of Sasang Constitutional Medicine, College of Oriental Medicine, Kyung Hee University. ssljh@daum.net
Junhee
J
Lee
Jiwon
J
Lee
Hyunshang
H
Shin
Ki-Suk
KS
Kim
Euiju
E
Lee
Byunghee
B
Koh
Hyeung-Jin
HJ
Jang
D000328:Adult; D001066:Appetite; D001824:Body Constitution; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000097:blood*; D052216:Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019894:Peptide YY / Q000097:blood*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D055815:Young Adult
D054439:Ghrelin; D019894:Peptide YY; D052216:Glucagon-Like Peptide 1