ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences2025
Beyond Hunger: The Structure, Signaling, and Systemic Roles of Ghrelin.
Review in International journal of molecular sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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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
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Activation of GHSRs Facilitates the Excitability of Dentate Gyrus Granule Cells and Short-Term Spatial Memory via Multiple Ionic and Signaling Mechanisms.Advanced biology · 2026Article
- An Evaluation of the Effects of the Ruthenium (II)-Uracil Schiff Base Complex on Selected Markers of Glucose Homeostasis in Diet-Induced Prediabetic Male Rats.Pharmaceutics · 2026Article
- A Dimer for Dinner: The Impact of GHS-R1a Heterodimerization on Feeding Circuits.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Levels of acylated and deacylated ghrelin are elevated in unmedicated patients with major depressive disorder and obesity: a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Relationships between Musculoskeletal Disorders, Sleep Impairment, and Cardiorespiratory Fitness among Adolescents Aged 15-19 Years in Douala, Cameroon: A Cross-sectional Study.International journal of school health · 2026Article
- Mechanistic insights into how intrapancreatic fat deposition drives the development of acute pancreatitis.International journal of biological sciences · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Our understanding of Ghrelin, an endogenous ligand of the growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1a (GHSR1a), has expanded from considering it to be a "hunger hormone" to a pleiotropic regulator of whole-body physiology. This review synthesizes the current advances spanning ghrelin biogenesis, signaling, and systems biology. Physiologically, preproghrelin processing and O-acylation by ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT) generate acyl-ghrelin, a high-potency GHSR1a agonist; des-acyl ghrelin predominates in circulation and exerts context-dependent, GHSR1a-independent, or low-potency effects, while truncated "mini-ghrelins" can act as competitive antagonists. The emergence of synthetic ligands, agonists, antagonists, and reverse-agonists has provided the necessary tools to decipher GHSR1a activity. Recent cryo-EM structures of GHSR1a with peptide and small-molecule ligands reveal a bipartite binding pocket and provide a framework for biased signaling, constitutive activity, and receptor partner selectivity. Beyond the regulation of feeding and growth-hormone release, ghrelin modulates glucose homeostasis, gastric secretion and motility, cardiovascular tone, bone remodeling, renal hemodynamics, and innate immunity. Ghrelin broadly dampens pro-inflammatory responses and promotes reparative macrophage phenotypes. In the emerging scholarship on ghrelin's activity in the central nervous system, ghrelin has been found to influence neuroprotection, stress reactivity, and sleep architecture, and has also been implicated in depression, Alzheimer's disease, and substance-abuse disorders. Practical and transitional aspects are also highlighted in the literature: approaches for ghrelin stabilization; recent GHSR1a agonists/antagonists and inverse agonists findings; LEAP-2-based strategies; and emerging GOAT inhibitors. Together, structural insights and pathway selectivity position the ghrelin system as a druggable axis for the management of inflammatory diseases, neuropsychiatric and addiction conditions, and for obesity treatment in the post-GLP-1 receptor agonist era.
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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.