Objective: The objective of this study is to compare evening and morning plasma ghrelin level in patients with different motor subtypes of Parkinson`s disease (PD).

Background: Ghrelin is a gastrointestinal hormone and often called a “hunger hormone” because it increases food intake. The plasma level of ghrelin fluctuates diurnally, with a peak in the day and a trough at night. Circulating ghrelin may act on the circadian system as a potential feedback signal for the suprachiasmatic nucleus [1]. Ghrelin is impacted by the endogenous circadian system. Its levels were higher in the biological evening than the biological morning [2]. On other hand circadian disruption is one of the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson`s disease. But it is remain unclear about daily fluctuations in patients with Parkinson`s disease.

Method: We examined 30 patients with Parkinson`s disease which was divided into 2 following group: 1 – tremor-dominant (n=16), 2 – akinetic-rigidity-dominated (n=14). Motor subtypes was checked by results of interferencial electromyoneurography. Control group consists of 21 healthy people. Plasma ghrelin levels was measured by ELISA method in the evening and morning blood samples.

Results: In the control group, there is diurnal variation in ghrelin levels with a tendency to decrease in the evening. In both groups of patients with PD there is no diurnal variation.
[table1]
In group 1 a low level of morning ghrelin was found, and group 2 have lower morning and evening ghrelin values compared to the control group. There were no differences in morning and evening ghrelin levels between the groups with different motor subtypes of PD. The absence of diurnal fluctuations in the group 1 is due to low morning levels, while in the group 2 due to lower levels of both morning and evening ghrelin.

Conclusion: Plasma ghrelin level is no diurnal variation in patients with PD and shows significant differences between motor subtypes of disease.

References: 1. Wang Q, Yin Y, Zhang W. Ghrelin Restores the Disruption of the Circadian Clock in Steatotic Liver. Int J Mol Sci. 2018 Oct 12;19(10):3134. doi: 10.3390/ijms19103134. PMID: 30322022; PMCID: PMC6213951. 2. Qian J, Morris CJ, Caputo R, Garaulet M, Scheer FAJL. Ghrelin is impacted by the endogenous circadian system and by circadian misalignment in humans. Int J Obes (Lond). 2019 Aug;43(8):1644-1649. doi: 10.1038/s41366-018-0208-9. Epub 2018 Sep 19. PMID: 30232416; PMCID: PMC6424662.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/daily-fluctuations-of-plasma-ghrelin-level-in-patients-with-different-motor-subtypes-of-parkinsons-disease/