SynthesisPeptides2021
The effect of acute exercise on pre-prandial ghrelin levels in healthy adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Peptides, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic Review: Does Exercise Training Influence Ghrelin Levels?International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Physical activity promotes gut adaptation, nutrient responsiveness, and sensitivity to gut peptides in male mice.EBioMedicine · 2026Article
- Exercise Timing and its Effects on Eating Behavior, Weight, and Body Composition: A Systematic Scoping Review to Identify Gaps and Inform Future Research.Current nutrition reports · 2026Article
- Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity as a Cause of Dietary Restriction in Eating Disorders.The International journal of eating disorders · 2025Review
- Exercise-regulated lipolysis: Its role and mechanism in health and diseases.Journal of advanced research · 2025Review
- The interrelationship among exercise intensity, endothelial function, and ghrelin in healthy humans.Physiological reports · 2025Article
- Hormonal, antioxidant, and body composition differences in national level male athletes: a comparative study of aerobic and anaerobic training.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- The Impact of Exercise Intensity and Sex on Endogenous Ghrelin Levels and Appetite in Healthy Humans.Journal of the Endocrine Society · 2024Article
- Acute effects of exercise intensity on butyrylcholinesterase and ghrelin in young men: A randomized controlled study.Journal of exercise science and fitness · 2024Article
- Beyond the Calorie Paradigm: Taking into Account in Practice the Balance of Fat and Carbohydrate Oxidation during Exercise?Nutrients · 2022Review
- What Is the Impact of Energy Expenditure on Energy Intake?Nutrients · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundGhrelin is a gut hormone with numerous physiological effects, including the regulation of energy balance, insulin sensitivity, vascular health, and body composition. Acylated (AG) and des-acylated (DAG) ghrelin constitute approximately 22 % and 78 % of total plasma ghrelin (TG), respectively. Alterations in the TG concentration and the AG/DAG ratio may be implicated in conditions involving energy imbalances and insulin resistant states (e.g., metabolic syndrome or Type 2 diabetes mellitus). Exercise is a therapeutic option that can potentially optimize ghrelin levels. Understanding the precise intensity and dose of exercise to optimize ghrelin levels may lead to targeted interventions to restore metabolic regulation in obesity and other clinical conditions.
objectiveTo perform a systematic review and meta-analysis on the effects of acute exercise on pre-prandial levels of TG, AG, and DAG in healthy adults and to determine if sample demographics or exercise doses moderate such effects.
methodsElectronic databases (PubMed, Medline, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar) were searched with articles published through August 2020. The following criteria was determined a priori for article inclusion: (i) the study was a randomized controlled trial (RCT),(ii) exercise was an acute bout, (iii) the exercise bout for the intervention group(s)/condition was structured, (iv) the control group/condition received no exercise, (v) participants were adults age 18 or older, (vi) ghrelin was sampled through blood, (vii) there was at least one baseline measure and one post-exercise measure of ghrelin, (viii) there were at least 3 timepoints where ghrelin was measured while participants were fasted to allow for pre-prandial total area-under-the-curve (AUC
resultsThe analysis included 24 studies that consisted of 52 trials, n = 504 (age 27.0 (8.8) years, BMI 24.7 (2.7) kg/m DISCUSSION: Acute exercise significantly lowers plasma ghrelin levels, with higher intensity exercise associated with greater ghrelin suppression. The majority of studies applied a moderate intensity exercise bout and measured AG, with limited data on DAG. This exercise dose may be clinically significant in individuals with metabolic dysregulation and energy imbalance as a therapy to optimize AG levels. More work is needed to compare moderate and high intensity exercise and the ghrelin response in clinical populations.
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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.