title: Systematic review of ghrelin response to food intake in pediatric age, from neonates to adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Food intake and energy balance are regulated during the lifespan with critical changes in each specific period (infancy, adulthood, aging). Some of ghrelin's changes may contribute to the regulation of food intake and weight in children. We aimed to analyze the ghrelin response to feeding in lean or obese subjects from birth to adolescence.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, Cochrane, and EMBASE (December 1999 to February 2013) and identified 62 relevant articles, of which 29 were suitable to be included.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Total ghrelin response to meals is particular, with refractoriness in neonates and lean children and an inhibition that starts from puberty. Total ghrelin levels are decreased after meals, irrespective of pubertal stages in obese children and adolescents. Conversely, total ghrelin is decreased after an oral glucose tolerance test in all ages, with the exception of neonates. Data on unacylated ghrelin response are scant but resemble those of total ghrelin. The acylated ghrelin response to meals or oral glucose tolerance test is discordant, although a precocious inhibition followed by a rise back is present in both lean and obese children. The post-feeding profile in children with Prader-Willi syndrome is also peculiar, with a conserved and deeper inhibition of all ghrelin forms.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatrics, Department of Health Sciences (F.P., A.M., R.R., A.M., S.B., M.R., G.B.); Endocrinology, Department of Translational Medicine (F.P., G.A.); and Interdisciplinary Center for Obesity Study (F.P., S.B., G.B.), Università del Piemonte Orientale "A. Avogadro," Novara, 28100, Italy.
authors.forename: Flavia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Prodam
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Monzani
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ricotti
authors.forename: Agostina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marolda
authors.forename: Simonetta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bellone
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Aimaretti
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roccio
authors.forename: Gianni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bona
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology*; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology; D019518:Postprandial Period / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D054439:Ghrelin