ReviewFrontiers in endocrinology2021
LEAP-2: An Emerging Endogenous Ghrelin Receptor Antagonist in the Pathophysiology of Obesity.
Review in Frontiers in endocrinology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers.
What it found
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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
37 citing papers in PubMed, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Anamorelin Efficacy in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Patients With Cachexia: Insights From ROMANA 1 and ROMANA 2.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2025Trial
- Plasma LEAP-2 Following a Low-Calorie Diet with or without Interval Exercise in Women with Obesity.Nutrients · 2023Trial
- Hypothalamic obesity in pediatric vs. adult craniopharyngioma: mechanisms, management, and cardiometabolic outcomes.Pituitary · 2026Review
- LEAP2 Regulates Insulin Secretion from INS-1E Beta Cells and Rat Pancreatic Islets: An In Vitro Study.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Article
- Ghrelin's role in sleep and sleep deprivation: a narrative review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Antibiotic exposure alters the LEAP-2/ghrelin axis and anti-inflammatory tone in aged male rat liver and adipose tissue.Biogerontology · 2025Article
- Beyond Hunger: The Structure, Signaling, and Systemic Roles of Ghrelin.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Serum LEAP-2 as a Potential Biomarker for Hepatic Steatosis in Adolescents with Obesity and MASLD: A Cross-Sectional Study.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Review
- Physical Activity, Exerkines, and Their Role in Cancer Cachexia.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Ghrelin and LEAP2: Their Interaction Effect on Appetite Regulation and the Alterations in Their Levels Following Bariatric Surgery.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Review
- Hepatic Olfr734 Deficiency Worsens Hepatic Glucose Metabolism and Induces MASLD in Mice.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Regulation of LEAP2 by insulin and glucagon in mice and humans.Cell reports. Medicine · 2025Article
- Midbrain ghrelin receptor signalling regulates binge drinking in a sex specific manner.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Identification and characterisation of LEAP2 from Chinese spiny frogs (Quasipaa spinosa) with antimicrobial and macrophage activation properties.BMC veterinary research · 2025Article
- Piggybacking on nature: exploring the multifaceted world of porcine β-defensins.Veterinary research · 2025Review
- Unraveling the multifaceted benefits of physical exercise: a comprehensive review of body composition, metabolic regulation, and systemic health.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Review
- Serum LEAP2 Levels Across the Spectrum of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease: A Potential Noninvasive Biomarker for Severity Stratification.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide 2 (LEAP-2), originally described as an antimicrobial peptide, has recently been recognized as an endogenous blocker of growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1a (GHS-R1a). GHS-R1a, also known as ghrelin receptor, is a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) widely distributed on the hypothalamus and pituitary gland where it exerts its major functions of regulating appetite and growth hormone (GH) secretion. The activity of GHS-R1a is controlled by two counter-regulatory endogenous ligands: Ghrelin (activation) and LEAP-2 (inhibition). Ghrelin activates GHS-R1a on the neuropeptide Y/Agouti-related protein (NPY/AgRP) neurons at the arcuate nucleus (ARC) to promote appetite, and on the pituitary somatotrophs to stimulate GH release. On the flip side, LEAP-2, acts both as an endogenous competitive antagonist of ghrelin and an inverse agonist of constitutive GHS-R1a activity. Such a biological property of LEAP-2 vigorously blocks ghrelin's effects on food intake and hormonal secretion. In circulation, LEAP-2 displays an inverse pattern as to ghrelin; it increases with food intake and obesity (positive energy balance), whereas decreases upon fasting and weight loss (negative energy balance). Thus, the LEAP-2/ghrelin molar ratio fluctuates in response to energy status and modulation of this ratio conversely influences energy intake. Inhibiting ghrelin's activity has shown beneficial effects on obesity in preclinical experiments, which sheds light on LEAP-2's anti-obesity potential. In this review, we will analyze LEAP-2's effects from a metabolic point of view with a focus on metabolic hormones (e.g., ghrelin, GH, and insulin), and discuss LEAP-2's potential as a promising therapeutic target for obesity.
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What Socratic holds
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.