Trial reportAddiction biology2012
Ghrelin system in alcohol-dependent subjects: role of plasma ghrelin levels in alcohol drinking and craving.
Trial report in Addiction biology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 85 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effects of Ghrelin on Alcohol Cue Reactivity and Craving
Effects of Ghrelin on Alcohol Administration in Non-Treatment Seeking Heavy Drinkers
A Novel Compound for Alcoholism Treatment: A Translational Strategy
Who cites it
85 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 144 citations in OpenAlex.
- Animal studies reveal that the ghrelin pathway regulates alcohol-mediated responses.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- An Overview of Appetite-Regulatory Peptides in Addiction Processes; From Bench to Bed Side.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Pooled it
- Lifestyle determinants of the drive to eat: a meta-analysis.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2012Pooled it
- Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic results from a randomized controlled study with the growth hormone secretagogue receptor blocker PF-5190457 in recently abstinent patients with alcohol use disorder.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Trial
- A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of a GHSR blocker in people with alcohol use disorder.JCI insight · 2024Trial
- A closer look at alcohol-induced changes in the ghrelin system: novel insights from preclinical and clinical data.Addiction biology · 2022Trial
- Effect of intravenous ghrelin administration, combined with alcohol, on circulating metabolome in heavy drinking individuals with alcohol use disorder.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2021Trial
- A population-based investigation of the association between alcohol intake and serum total ghrelin concentrations among cigarette-smoking, non-alcohol-dependent male individuals.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Exogenous ghrelin administration increases alcohol self-administration and modulates brain functional activity in heavy-drinking alcohol-dependent individuals.Molecular psychiatry · 2018Trial
- Pharmacological manipulation of the ghrelin system and alcohol hangover symptoms in heavy drinking individuals: Is there a link?Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior · 2018Trial
- Leptin levels are reduced by intravenous ghrelin administration and correlated with cue-induced alcohol craving.Translational psychiatry · 2015Trial
- Intravenous ghrelin administration increases alcohol craving in alcohol-dependent heavy drinkers: a preliminary investigation.Biological psychiatry · 2014Trial
- Hunger recruits a parallel circuit encoding alcohol reward.Current biology : CB · 2026Article
- Alcohol Exposure Alters the Ghrelin System: In Vitro Mechanistic Insights Into Impaired Glucose Sensing and Enhanced Ghrelin Secretion.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2026Article
- Addiction as a cardiometabolic disease: a neurocardiometabolic framework and the emerging role of GLP-1 receptor therapies.European heart journal open · 2026Review
- GHSR antagonist LEAP2 concentrations negatively correlate with alcohol craving and are modulated by alcohol exposure: Evidence from human and rat studies.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2026Article
- LEAP2 as a therapeutic target in obesity and cardiometabolic disorders.Reviews in endocrine & metabolic disorders · 2026Review
- Neuroendocrinology meets addiction: Emerging pharmacotherapies on the horizon.Journal of internal medicine · 2025Review
- Hunger Recruits a Parallel Circuit Encoding Alcohol Reward.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
25 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Animal studies suggest that the gut-brain peptide ghrelin plays an important role in the neurobiology of alcohol dependence (AD). Human studies show an effect of alcohol on ghrelin levels and a correlation between ghrelin levels and alcohol craving in alcoholics. This investigation consisted of two studies. Study 1 was a 12-week study with alcohol-dependent subjects, where plasma ghrelin determinations were assessed four times (T0-T3) and related to alcohol intake and craving [Penn Alcohol Craving Score (PACS) and Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS)]. Serum growth hormone levels and assessment of the nutritional/metabolic status were also performed. Study 2 was a pilot case-control study to assess ghrelin gene polymorphisms (Arg51Gln and Leu72Met) in alcohol-dependent individuals. Study 1 showed no significant differences in ghrelin levels in the whole sample, while there was a statistical difference for ghrelin between non-abstinent and abstinent subjects. Baseline ghrelin levels were significantly and positively correlated with the PACS score at T1 and with all craving scores both at T2 and T3 (PACS, OCDS, obsessive and compulsive OCDS subscores). In Study 2, although there was a higher frequency of the Leu72Met ghrelin gene polymorphism in alcohol-dependent individuals, the distribution between healthy controls and alcohol dependent individuals was not statistically significant. This investigation suggests that ghrelin is potentially able to affect alcohol-seeking behaviors, such as alcohol drinking and craving, representing a new potential neuropharmacological target for AD.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.