Therapeutic potential of ghrelin in cardiac diseases.

It has recently been revealed that ghrelin, a hormone discovered in the stomach, has a potential therapeutic role in the treatment of diseased hearts. In human patients with heart failure and in animal models, repeated subcutaneous administration of ghrelin improves cardiac dysfunction and remodeling. Moreover, ghrelin treatment early after myocardial infarction effectively reduces fatal arrhythmia and, consequently, mortality. The beneficial effects of ghrelin result from a growth hormone increase, an orexigenic effect, direct actions to the cardiovascular cells and its potent inhibitory action on sympathetic nervous activity, which is excessively activated in cardiac diseases. These results suggest that ghrelin could be a promising novel therapeutic agent for cardiac diseases.