Circulating ghrelin and ghrelin to obestatin ratio are low in patients with untreated mild-to-moderate hypertension.

Abstract Obestatin, encoded by the same gene as ghrelin, was first described as a physiological opponent of ghrelin. We investigated fasting plasma ghrelin and obestatin levels and ratio of ghrelin to obestatin in humans with untreated mild-to-moderate hypertension and humans with normal blood pressure. We found that the plasma concentration of ghrelin and the ratio of ghrelin to obestatin were significantly lower in hypertension group compared with control group (236.3 ± 12.3 pg/ml vs 381.4 ± 25.6 pg/ml, P vs 1.2 ± 0.06, P vs 325.4 ± 25.8 pg/ml, P  > 0.05). In a multiple regression model, systolic blood pressure, triglyceride and obestatin were independent predictors of ghrelin (standardized coefficient = − 0.332; P  = 0.019; standardized coefficient = − 0.302; P  = 0.030; standardized coefficient = 0.630; P P P  = 0.033; standardized coefficient = − 0.430; P  = 0.018, respectively). Our data suggests that there are disturbances of ghrelin and obestatin in the circulating plasma of humans and the ghrelin/obestatin system might play a role in blood pressure regulation.