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Cross-Sectional and Prospective Relationships of Fasting Plasma Ghrelin Concentrations with Anthropometric Measures in Pima Indian Children

Clinical Diabetes and Nutrition Section, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health (J.C.B., A.D.S., A.D., P.D., P.A.T.), Phoenix, Arizona 85016; and Department of Health and Human Services, German Institute of Human Nutrition (M.H.T.), 14558 Bergholz-Rehbrucke, Germany

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Joy C. Bunt, Clinical Diabetes and Nutrition Section National Institutes of Health, 4212 North 16th Street, Room 541-A, Phoenix, Arizona 85016. E-mail: jbunt{at}mail.nih.gov.

Ghrelin, a recently discovered GH secretagogue with orexigenic effects, is proposed to be a regulator of energy balance. To test whether fasting plasma ghrelin concentrations predict future gain in body weight or adiposity, we measured weight, height, body mass index (BMI), percentage of body fat (by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry), and fasting plasma concentrations of ghrelin, insulin, and glucose in 10-yr-old Pima Indians (n = 40; 13 males and 27 females) and subsequent weight, height, and BMI 1.7 ± 0.6 yr later. At baseline, the fasting plasma ghrelin concentration was negatively associated with height (r = -0.52; P = 0.0006), weight, (r = -0.37; P = 0.02), percentage of body fat (r = -0.33, P = 0.04), and fasting plasma insulin concentration (r = -0.41; P = 0.01). In multiple regression models adjusting for gender and fasting plasma insulin, the fasting plasma ghrelin concentration was an independent determinant of height (ß = -13.9; P = 0.02), but not weight or BMI. Prospectively, the baseline fasting plasma ghrelin concentration was not an independent determinant of the relative rate of increase in weight, height, or adiposity. In conclusion, the fasting plasma ghrelin concentration was lower in taller and fatter Pima Indian children, but did not independently predict baseline weight, adiposity, or future growth rates. These data do not support a direct relationship between the fasting plasma ghrelin concentration and subsequent relative changes in height or weight in growing children.

Abbreviations: BMI, Body mass index; PFAT, percentage of body fat; SGA, small for gestational age.

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