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Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Comparative Analysis of Human Growth Hormone in Serum Using SPRi, Nano-SPRi and ELISA Assays
Published on: January 7, 2016
Growth hormone secretagogue receptor antagonists as anti-obesity therapies? Still an open question
1Abbott Laboratories, Metabolic Disease Research, Global Pharmaceutical Research and Development, 100 Abbott Park Road, Abbott Park, IL 60064-6098, USA. Hongyu.zhao@abbott.com
Abstract:
Ghrelin woas recently de-orphaned as an endogenous ligand of growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R), and is implicated as a short-term meal initiator and a long-term energy balance regulator. Administration of ghrelin causes increases in food intake and body weight in both rodents and humans. Inhibiting its actions with GHS-R anti-sense oligonucleotides, anti-ghrelin antibodies, and peptide antagonists leads to decreased food intake and weight loss in rodents. Despite the much-publicized promise of providing a novel approach for anti-obesity treatment, limited progress has been made in developing small-molecule GHS-R antagonists and no such compound has been advanced to clinical trials. This review will summarize the recent progress in small-molecule GHS-R antagonists and offer some insight into this area of research based on the experience at Abbott Laboratories.
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