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Postprandial Ghrelin Is Elevated in Black Compared with White Women

Departments of Psychiatry (K.A.B., K.C.L., K.M.G., E.E.B.) and Medicine (A.L.H.), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7175; and Department of Biobehavioral Health (S.G.W.), Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Kim Brownley, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, CB #7175, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-7175. E-mail: kim_brownley{at}med.unc.edu.

Ghrelin, a gut-brain peptide that signals hunger, is normally suppressed after meals. Subnormal suppression of postprandial ghrelin, previously noted in obese, insulin-resistant individuals, may contribute to increased food intake. Given the ethnic disparities in obesity and obesity-related cardiovascular morbidity in the United States, the present study compared a single postprandial ghrelin measure in 43 women (22 white, 21 black). Each completed a rigorously controlled 4-d dietary intervention designed to maintain weight and constant daily sodium and potassium intake (220 mEq Na, 40 mEq K). Two hours after consuming a test meal of identical content, blood samples were drawn to assess postprandial ghrelin, leptin, and norepinephrine; resting cardiovascular function was measured; and a 24-h urinary cortisol sample was obtained. Independent of body mass index, postprandial ghrelin was significantly higher in black vs. white women, and higher ghrelin was associated with higher cortisol in blacks, who failed to show the expected inverse relation between ghrelin and central obesity seen in whites. Higher ghrelin was correlated with higher blood pressure but lower norepinephrine in obese women. These findings suggest subnormal postprandial ghrelin suppression (or faster ghrelin rebound) in black women, especially the obese, that might play a role in their increased prevalence of obesity and cardiovascular disorders.

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