SynthesisNutrients2021
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Finds Increased Blood Levels of All Forms of Ghrelin in Both Restricting and Binge-Eating/Purging Subtypes of Anorexia Nervosa.
Synthesis in Nutrients, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Peripheral Biomarkers of Anorexia Nervosa: A Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2024Pooled it
- Nutritional state-dependent changes in subcortical limbic structures in anorexia nervosa are linked to leptin, ghrelin, and neurofilament light.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Comprehensive insights into emerging advances in the Neurobiology of anorexia.Journal of advanced research · 2026Review
- GDF15 Is Elevated in Eating Disorders and Is Involved in the Gut-Brain Axis via Ghrelin.European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2026Article
- Examining the biological causes of eating disorders to inform treatment strategies.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2025Review
- The interplay between social media use, poor sleep, and disordered eating: a narrative review.Cogent mental health · 2025Review
- Article
- The Pathologic Roles and Therapeutic Implications of Ghrelin/GHSR System in Mental Disorders.Depression and anxiety · 2024Review
- To eat or not to eat: A role for ghrelin and LEAP2 in eating disorders?Neuroscience applied · 2024Review
- Association Between Ghrelin and Body Weight Trajectory in Individuals With Anorexia Nervosa.JAMA network open · 2023Article
- Psychiatric and medical comorbidities of eating disorders: findings from a rapid review of the literature.Journal of eating disorders · 2022Review
- Associations of Stress and Appetite Hormones with Binge Eating in Females with Anorexia Nervosa after Weight Restoration: A Longitudinal Study.Journal of personalized medicine · 2021Article
- Reframing anorexia nervosa as a metabo-psychiatric disorder.Trends in endocrinology and metabolism: TEM · 2021Review
- Article
- GIST and Ghrelin: To Be or Not to Be?Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Biased Ghrelin Receptor Signaling and the Dopaminergic System as Potential Targets for Metabolic and Psychological Symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a severe psychiatric condition associated with high mortality and chronicity. The hunt for state, trait, subtyping, and prognostic biomarkers is ongoing and the orexigenic hormone ghrelin and its different forms, acyl ghrelin and desacyl ghrelin, have been proposed to be increased in AN, especially in the restrictive subtype. A systematic literature search was performed using established databases up to 30 November 2020. Forty-nine studies met inclusion criteria for cross-sectional and longitudinal meta-analyses on total ghrelin, acyl ghrelin, and desacyl ghrelin. All forms of ghrelin were increased in the acute stage of anorexia nervosa during fasting compared to healthy controls. Previous notions on differences in ghrelin levels between AN subtypes were not supported by current data. In addition, a significant decrease in total ghrelin was observed pre-treatment to follow-up. However, total ghrelin levels at follow-up were still marginally elevated compared to healthy controls, whereas for acyl ghrelin, no overall effect of treatment was observed. Due to heterogeneity in follow-up designs and only few data on long-term recovered patients, longitudinal results should be interpreted with caution. While the first steps towards a biomarker in acute AN have been completed, the value of ghrelin as a potential indicator of treatment success or recovery status or its use in subtype differentiation are yet to be established.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.