Obestatin/ghrelin ratio: a new activity index in inflammatory bowel diseases.

Background: The aim was to determine obestatin and ghrelin serum levels and their ratio in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients.

Methods: We measured the ghrelin and obestatin levels of 31 Crohn's disease patients and 22 patients with ulcerative colitis using a radioimmunoassay method. Circulating levels of the 2 hormones and their ratio were correlated with the disease type and activity, disease localization, and treatment.

Results: The mean ghrelin value was statistically significantly higher in patients with active disease (402.4 +/- 462.6 pg/mL) than in patients in remission (148.2 +/- 59.6 pg/mL) P = 0.0290, alpha = 0.05, whereas obestatin mean values were not (217.4 +/- 59.8 pg/mL in active disease and 189.0 +/- 46.8 pg/mL in patients with inactive disease P = 0.0607). When we evaluated the obestatin/ghrelin ratio between active and inactive disease, it was found that the ratio in active disease was statistically significantly lower (0.8 +/- 0.3) than in patients in remission (1.4 +/- 0.3) P < 0.001, alpha = 0.05. There is also a statistically significantly correlation between obestatin/ghrelin ratio and disease activity (P < 0,001).

Conclusions: Ghrelin and obestatin seem to play a significant role in IBD pathogenesis. Further studies are needed to elucidate the role of these hormones as new biological markers of activity of IBD.