Role and Significance of Ghrelin and Leptin in Hunger, Satiety, and Energy Homeostasis
Charu Kharbanda, Savita Bansal, Prachi Saffar Aneja
Abstract
Hunger is a set of internal experiences that lead a human or animal to seek food. Satiety is a desire to limit further food intake or the state of being gratified after completing a meal. The objective of this review article is to discuss the influence of ghrelin and leptin in hunger, appetite, satiety, and long-term energy homeostasis. The data for this review were collected through an extensive journal search. Electronic databases (Medline and PubMed) were thoroughly consulted, and few articles were obtained from the website: Google Scholars (http://scholar.google.com). Ghrelin and leptin are concerned with food intake and energy homeostasis. Ghrelin increases food intake and affects food patterns, whereas leptin induces satiety. Circulating leptin levels are directly proportion to the amount of body fat, thereby reflecting the status of long-term energy stores. Recent work suggests that leptin plays a more important role in the maintenance of weight loss than weight loss per se and ghrelin increases appetite, adjusts energy balance, and enhances the release of growth hormone from the pituitary gland