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Review
. 2019 Sep 5;1(1):H97-H102.
doi: 10.1530/VB-19-0024. eCollection 2019.

Ghrelin and vascular protection

James T Pearson  1   2 , Mikiyasu Shirai  1 , Vijayakumar Sukumaran  1 , Cheng-Kun Du  1 , Hirotsugu Tsuchimochi  1 , Takashi Sonobe  1 , Mark T Waddingham  1 , Rajesh Katare  3 , Daryl O Schwenke  3
Affiliations
Review

Ghrelin and vascular protection

James T Pearson et al. Vasc Biol. .

Abstract

Ghrelin is a small peptide with important roles in the regulation of appetite, gut motility, glucose homeostasis as well as cardiovascular protection. This review highlights the role that acyl ghrelin plays in maintaining normal endothelial function by maintaining the balance of vasodilator-vasoconstrictor factors, inhibiting inflammatory cytokine production and immune cell recruitment to sites of vascular injury and by promoting angiogenesis.

Keywords: GHS-R1a; angiogenesis; ghrelin; inflammation; vasodilation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of this review.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pre-proghrelin produced within ghrelin cells is cleaved to produce ghrelin and obestatin. Ghrelin peptide is then present in these cells as unacylated or desacyl ghrelin (DAG) or becomes acylated with an 8-carbon fatty acid side chain (shown in red ring) at Serine 3 residue by ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT) to become acyl ghrelin (AG). Proteases are responsible for the degradation of AG to DAG.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summary of the reported effects of endogenous and exogenous acyl ghrelin (AG) and desacyl ghrelin (DAG) in the vasculature and their receptor pathways. ET-1, endothelin-1; GHS-R1a, growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1a; GLP-1, glucagon-like peptide-1.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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