1. Estrogen modulates ghrelin expression in the female rat stomach
- Author
-
Matsubara, Maki, Sakata, Ichiro, Wada, Reiko, Yamazaki, Mami, Inoue, Kinji, and Sakai, Takafumi
- Subjects
- *
ESTROGEN receptors , *STEROID hormones , *LABORATORY rats , *MESSENGER RNA - 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 17β-estradiol replacement. We also found that ghrelin-immunopositive cells express estrogen receptor α. These results suggested that estrogen is involved in the regulation of ghrelin expression. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
- Published
- 2004
- Full Text
- View/download PDF