Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 2, 2026

An In Vivo Estrogen Deficiency Mouse Model for Screening Exogenous Estrogen Treatments of Cardiovascular Dysfunction After Menopause
Published on: August 13, 2019
The Antidepressant-like Effects of Estrogen-mediated Ghrelin
Pu Wang, Changhong Liu, Lei Liu
1Life Sciences institute, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China 130024.
Abstract:
Ghrelin, one of the brain-gut peptides, stimulates food-intake. Recently, ghrelin has also shown to play an important role in depression treatment. However, the mechanism of ghrelin's antidepressant-like actions is unknown. On the other hand, sex differences in depression, and the fluctuation of estrogens secretion have been proved to play a key role in depression. It has been reported that women have higher level of ghrelin expression, and ghrelin can stimulate estrogen secretion while estrogen acts as a positive feedback mechanism to up-regulate ghrelin level. Ghrelin may be a potential regulator of reproductive function, and estrogen may have additional effect in ghrelin's antidepressantlike actions. In this review, we summarize antidepressant-like effects of ghrelin and estrogen in basic and clinical studies, and provide new insight on ghrelin's effect in depression.
Related Concept Videos
Drugs Affecting GI Tract Motility: Serotonin Receptor Agonists
G-protein Coupled Receptors
Antidepressant Drugs: MAOIs and Other Agents
Regulation of Food Intake
Glucagon-like Receptor Agonists
GLP-1, when administered in high doses intravenously, triggers insulin secretion, inhibits glucagon release, slows gastric emptying, reduces food intake, and restores normal insulin secretion. However, its rapid inactivation by...
Antidepressant Drugs: Tricyclics, SSRIs, and SNRIs

