Abstract

The serum ghrelin levels had been studied in three groups of subjects׃ First group was normal weight (11 men and 9 women), non obese, non diabetic, 38 ± 12 years old, with BMI mean about 23.8 kg/m² and did not take any drugs. The second group was overweight (18 men and 13 women), non diabetic, 40.6 ± 9.9 years old, with BMI mean about 36.34 kg/m². This group was apparently healthy and did not take any oral hypoglycemic drug. The third group was overweight type ΙΙ diabetic (19 men and 16 women), 40 ± 10.9 years old, with BMI mean about 36.65 kg/m². Patients in this group were taking at least one of the oral hypoglycemic drugs. In this regard, this study illustrated that ghrelin blood levels in type ΙΙ overweight diabetics (9.5 ± 2.5 fmol/ml) were less than non diabetic overweight subjects (11.3 ± 2.8 fmol/ml), while normal weight subjects had the lowest levels of ghrelin (16.8 ± 4.6 fmol/ml). By studying the correlation between serum ghrelin levels and BMI, and the correlation between serum ghrelin levels and insulin, a statistically significant reverse relation between them was found, within each group. In conclusion, ghrelin concentrations were affected by obesity and diabetes mellitus type II.

Key words: Ghrelin, insulin, type ΙΙ diabetes, obese, body mass index (BMI).