title: Ghrelin and obestatin in infants, lactating mothers and breast milk.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the role of ghrelin and obestatin in infancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  We measured ghrelin and obestatin concentrations in blood samples of infants, lactating mothers, and in breast milk.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median (interquartile range) serum ghrelin concentrations were 922.11 (868.44) pg/ml in infants, 667.88 (942.78) pg/ml in lactating mothers, and 526.4 (439.86) pg/ml in breast milk. The serum obestatin levels were 844.87 (805.14) pg/ml in infants, 759.105 (855.55) pg/ml in lactating mothers, and 846.6 (472.07) pg/ml in breast milk. A positive correlation was found for serum ghrelin concentrations in breastfed infants and lactating mothers (p < 0.001, r = 0.789), serum ghrelin concentrations in breastfed infants and in breast milk (p < 0.001, r = 0.581), serum ghrelin concentrations in lactating mothers and in breast milk (p = 0.021, r = 0.450), and serum obestatin concentrations in breastfed infants and in lactating mothers (p = 0.047, r = 0.609).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We report for the first time the serum obestatin concentrations in infants and confirm the presence of correlations between ghrelin and obestatin in lactating mothers and breast milk. The correlations found early in infants' life, when hormones begin to exert their effects on feeding behavior, suggest that they may be involved in these processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, University of Turin, Regina Margherita Children's Hospital, Turin, Italy. francesco.savino@unito.it
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Savino
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Benetti
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Lupica
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petrucci
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Palumeri
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cordero di Montezemolo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D041943:Infant Formula; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D007774:Lactation / Q000097:blood*; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry*; D012885:Skinfold Thickness
chemical_list: D054439:Ghrelin; C505799:obestatin, human