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Hyperghrelinemia precedes obesity in Prader-Willi syndrome

Eva Feigerlová1, Gwenaëlle Diene, Françoise Conte-Auriol

  • 1Unit of Endocrinology, Hôpital des Enfants, 330 Avenue de Grande Bretagne, Toulouse Cedex 9, France.

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
|May 8, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Plasma ghrelin levels are elevated in children with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) from infancy, preceding obesity. These high ghrelin levels in PWS children decrease with age but remain higher than in controls.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Endocrinology
  • Metabolic Disorders
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is associated with high plasma ghrelin.
  • Little is known about ghrelin levels in infants with PWS during early development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate total plasma ghrelin levels in children with PWS compared to controls.
  • To analyze ghrelin levels across a wide age range (2 months to 17 years).

Main Methods:

  • Compared 40 children with PWS to 84 healthy controls.
  • Measured plasma ghrelin levels and analyzed relationships with BMI Z-score, insulin, HOMA-IR, leptin, and lean mass.
  • Stratified analysis based on age and growth hormone (GH) treatment.

Main Results:

  • Children with PWS had significantly higher plasma ghrelin levels than controls at all ages (P < 0.0001).
  • Ghrelin levels decreased with age in both groups (P < 0.0001).
  • Elevated ghrelin in PWS was observed in both younger, non-GH-treated children and older, GH-treated children.

Conclusions:

  • Plasma ghrelin levels are elevated in children with PWS throughout childhood, starting from infancy.
  • These findings suggest elevated ghrelin precedes obesity development in PWS.
  • Ghrelin levels show an inverse correlation with BMI Z-score and other metabolic markers in PWS.
Abstract

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