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
Melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 2 Melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 2 Melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 2 (MCH) also known as G-protein coupled receptor 145 (GPR145) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the "MCHR2" gene. MCH is also found in dogs, ferrets, and some other primates and carnivores, but is not found in mice or rats. This has delayed research into the receptor as a therapeutic target, due to most early pharmaceutical research usually being conducted in small mammals such as mice, rats or rabbits which lack the MCH gene and its receptor product. Treatment of human cells expressing MCHR2 with MCH resulted in upregulation of