Panagopoulos Vassilis N, Ralevski Elizabeth
Department of Psychiatry, VA St. Louis Health Care System, 915 North Grand Blvd, St. Louis, MO, 63106, USA.
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2014 Jul;231(14):2725-40. doi: 10.1007/s00213-014-3640-0. Epub 2014 Jun 20.
Ghrelin is a fast-acting hormone that is produced primarily by the stomach and by the brain although in smaller quantities. The regulation and the secretion of ghrelin are complex and not limited to aspects of feeding. Ghrelin exerts powerful effects on multiple processes, and it has been demonstrated that it mediates the rewarding properties of food as well as of drugs of abuse.
The purpose of this review is to summarize the findings of preclinical and clinical studies related to ghrelin's possible role in addiction for each specific class of substances. Questions related to ghrelin's involvement in addiction are highlighted. Recurrent methodological issues that render the interpretation of the findings challenging are discussed. Also, the potential of targeting ghrelin as a pharmacologic treatment strategy for addiction is explored.
Ghrelin signaling is implicated in the mediation of behavioral and biochemical effects of drugs of abuse that are cardinal for the development of addiction, especially for alcohol, nicotine, and stimulants. The available literature implicating ghrelin in opioid or cannabis use disorders is currently limited and inconclusive.
There is intriguing, although not always consistent, evidence for the involvement of ghrelin signaling in aspects of addiction, especially in the cases of alcohol, nicotine, and stimulants. Further research, particularly in humans, is recommended to replicate and expand on the findings of the current literature. Improved and novel methodologies that take into account the volatile and complex nature of ghrelin are required to clarify the inconsistencies of the findings.
胃饥饿素是一种起效迅速的激素，主要由胃产生，大脑也会产生少量胃饥饿素。胃饥饿素的调节和分泌过程复杂，并不局限于进食相关的方面。胃饥饿素对多个生理过程具有强大作用，并且已经证实它介导了食物以及滥用药物的奖赏特性。
本综述的目的是总结临床前和临床研究的结果，这些研究涉及胃饥饿素在各类特定物质成瘾中可能发挥的作用。文中突出了与胃饥饿素参与成瘾相关的问题。讨论了反复出现的方法学问题，这些问题使得研究结果的解读具有挑战性。此外，还探讨了将胃饥饿素作为成瘾药物治疗策略的潜力。
胃饥饿素信号传导与滥用药物的行为和生化效应的介导有关，这些效应是成瘾发展的关键因素，尤其是对酒精、尼古丁和兴奋剂而言。目前，关于胃饥饿素与阿片类药物或大麻使用障碍有关的现有文献有限且尚无定论。
有有趣的证据表明胃饥饿素信号传导参与成瘾过程，尽管并不总是一致，尤其是在酒精、尼古丁和兴奋剂成瘾的情况下。建议进一步开展研究，特别是针对人类的研究，以重复和扩展当前文献的研究结果。需要改进和创新方法，考虑到胃饥饿素易变和复杂的特性，以澄清研究结果中的不一致之处。
