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Updated: Aug 25, 2026

Establishment of Rat Models Mimicking Gender-affirming Hormone Therapies
Published on: January 10, 2025
Estrogen modulates ghrelin expression in the female rat stomach
Maki Matsubara1, Ichiro Sakata, Reiko Wada
1Department of Regulation Biology, Faculty of Science, Saitama University, 255 Shimo-ohkubo, Sakura-ku, Saitama 338-8570, Japan.
Abstract:
Ghrelin was recently identified as an endogenous ligand for GH secretagogue receptor. In this study, we investigated the effects of ovariectomy on the numbers of ghrelin-immunopositive and -expressing cells, ghrelin mRNA levels, and plasma ghrelin concentrations in 4- and 9-week-old female rats. Three days after ovariectomy, the number of ghrelin cells and plasma ghrelin level significantly increased in both 4- and 9-week-old rats and the ghrelin mRNA level also increased in 4-week-old rats. These responses were reversed by 17beta-estradiol replacement. We also found that ghrelin-immunopositive cells express estrogen receptor alpha. These results suggested that estrogen is involved in the regulation of ghrelin expression.
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