Obesity is a costly and growing,global health epidemic that needs more efficient intervention strategies that needs more effective intervention startegies to avoid serious complications including heart disease and diabetes. Food restriction and regular exercise are the two main cost-effective strategies to prevent and treat obesity; however the condition is often associated with a sedentary lifestyle and bad eating habits such as snacking and binge eating. Consequently, adhering to a regular exercise for a prolonged period or a lack of motivation.Ghrelin, often referred to as the 'hunger harmone',stimulates appetite through actions on the brain reward circuitry that increase motivation to eat.It has also been reported to be essential for endurance exercise by increasing metabolism to meet the energy demand of prolongged exercise.Although previous studies have suggested a relationship between ghrelin and exercise, it is not known whether ghrelin levels have a direct on motivation to exercise.
In this study Dr Yuji Tajiri and colleagues from Kurume University School of Medicine in Japapeuticn,investigated the relationship between exercise and ghrelin levels in mice.Food intake and wheel-running activity were compared in mice given free access to food and those fed only twice a day for a limited time.Although both groups ate a similiar amount of food, the restricted mice ran significantly more.Mice genetically altered to have no ghrelin and on the restricted feeding diet ran less than the mice given free acess however, this could be reversed by administering ghrelin.Furthermore,mice given free acess to food and given ghrelin also run significantly more. These findings suggest that ghrelin may play an important role in the motivation for both feeding and exercise in response to restricted eating plans.
Dr Tajiri comments,'Our findings suggest that hunger,which promotes ghrelin production,may also be involved in increasing motivation for voluntary exercise,which feeding is limited.Therefore,maintaining a healthy eating rountine,with regular mealtimes or fasting,could also encourage motivation or exercise in overweight people."
However,Dr Tajiri cautions"These findings and previous reports are based on animal studies:so much more work is needed to confirm that this ghrelin response is also present in people.If it can be establised in clinical practice,it not only opens up new cost-effective diet and exercise strategies but may also indicates a new therapeutic application for ghrelin-mimicking drugs.
Dr Tajiri and his team now plan to carry out more experiments to confirm these findings in humans,to further characterise how ghrelin acts in the brain to produce motivation to eat or exercise and to explore any potential real-world,clinical benefits for the treatment and prevention of obesity.
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