Abstract

Song Yu, Zhi-Gang Wang, Cheng-Guang Yang, Jun Yan, Wen-Cai Qiu and Qi Zheng*

The aim of this study was to investigate the validity of exogenous ghrelin for early recovery in partial gastrectomied rats and its long-term significance. The subtotal gastrectomy (B-ltype) rats were randomly divided into two groups, and then they were treated with intraperitoneal injection of saline or ghrelin intervention respectively. Body weight and daily food intake were measured before and after the operation. After the seventh post-operation, rats were sacrificed, the fundus of stomach and anastomosis were taken to determine ghrelin mRNA expression by real-time fluorescent quantitive PCR and to evaluate the bursting pressure and hydroxyproline content. There was no difference in body weight between the two groups (P>0.05); Cumulative food intake (P<0.05) was 52.50±6.77 g in ghrelin group, which was higher than that in the saline group (45.67±7.47 g) (P<0.05). However, the ghrelin mRNA expression in ghrelin treatment group was lower than the control group (P<0.01). Compared to the saline group, ghrelin-treated rats displayed a higher bursting pressure (P<0.05) and anastomotic hydroxyproline content (P<0.01). Ghrelin treatment in the postoperative rats can promote energy metabolism and body weight gain. Ghrelin could effectively promote the healing of anastomosis. However, exogenous ghrelin intervention may inhibit the early compensatory mechanisms of residual stomac