Ghrelin Ghrelin Ghrelin (pronounced ), the "hunger hormone", also known as lenomorelin (INN), is a peptide hormone produced by ghrelinergic cells in the gastrointestinal tract that functions as a neuropeptide in the central nervous system. Besides regulating appetite, ghrelin also plays a significant role in regulating the distribution and rate of use of energy. When the stomach is empty, ghrelin is secreted. When the stomach is stretched, secretion stops. It acts on hypothalamic brain cells both to increase hunger, and to increase gastric acid secretion and gastrointestinal motility to prepare the body for food intake. The receptor for ghrelin, the ghrelin/growth
Growth hormone version of GH for use in pigs (porcine somatotropin) approved by the FDA but all applications have been withdrawn. The identification, purification and later synthesis of growth hormone is associated with Choh Hao Li. Genentech pioneered the first use of recombinant human growth hormone for human therapy in 1981. Prior to its production by recombinant DNA technology, growth hormone used to treat deficiencies was extracted from the pituitary glands of cadavers. Attempts to create a wholly synthetic HGH failed. Limited supplies of HGH resulted in the restriction of HGH therapy to the treatment of idiopathic short stature. Very limited clinical