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Ghrelin Regulates the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis and Restricts Anxiety After Acute Stress
Open accessAbstract
Background Ghrelin plays important roles in glucose metabolism, appetite, and body weight regulation, and recent evidence suggests ghrelin prevents excessive anxiety under conditions of chronic stress.Methods We used ghrelin knockout (ghr-/-) mice to examine the role of endogenous ghrelin in anxious behavior and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) responses to acute stress.Results Ghr-/- mice are more anxious after acute restraint stress, compared with wild-type (WT) mice, with three independent behavioral tests. Acute restraint stress exacerbated neuronal activation in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus and medial nucleus of the amygdala in ghr-/- mice compared with WT, and exogenous ghrelin reversed this effect. Acute stress increased neuronal activation in the centrally projecting Edinger-Westphal nucleus in WT but not ghr-/- mice. Ghr-/- mice exhibited a lower corticosterone response after stress, suggesting dysfunctional glucocorticoid negative feedback in the absence of ghrelin. We found no differences in dexamethasone-induced Fos expression between ghr-/- and WT mice, suggesting central feedback was not impaired. Adrenocorticotropic hormone replacement elevated plasma corticosterone in ghr-/-, compared with WT mice, indicating increased adrenal sensitivity. The adrenocorticotropic hormone response to acute stress was significantly reduced in ghr-/- mice, compared with control subjects. Pro-opiomelanocortin anterior pituitary cells express significant growth hormone secretagogue receptor.Conclusions Ghrelin reduces anxiety after acute stress by stimulating the HPA axis at the level of the anterior pituitary. A novel neuronal growth hormone secretagogue receptor circuit involving urocortin 1 neurons in the centrally projecting Edinger-Westphal nucleus promotes an appropriate stress response. Thus, ghrelin regulates acute stress and offers potential therapeutic efficacy in human mood and stress disorders.
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“Ghrelin is a 28 amino-acid stomach-derived peptide known for its powerful physiological orexigenic and adipogenic effects, as well as for its contribution toward the stress response, anxiety, and depression [293][294][295][296][297].”
From Anxiety, depression, and the microbiome: A role for gut peptides (2018) · cites this paper as [295]
In the citing paper
“Mice lacking endogenous ghrelin have a dampened circulating glucocorticoid response following an acute stressor due a deficit in the PVN response needed to stimulate ACTH from the pituitary [295,311].”
From Anxiety, depression, and the microbiome: A role for gut peptides (2018) · cites this paper as [295]
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“, 2008) and under stress conditions, endogenous ghrelin seems to attenuate anxious-like behavior and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis activation (Spencer et al., 2012).”
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“Furthermore, it has been proposed that ghrelin reduces stress-induced anxiety by stimulating the HPA axis at the anterior pituitary (Spencer et al., 2012).”
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“Additionally, ghrelin confers a regulatory role on growth hormone (GH) release [19], is implicated in learning and memory [21–23], modulates motivation and reward [24,25], and regulates the stress response (reviewed in [26]).”
BackgroundThe role of ghrelin/GHS-R1A signaling in nonalcohol drug addictions
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“It is also in agreement with recent evidence suggesting that ghrelin reduces anxiety after acute stress by stimulating the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis via the anterior pituitary (Spencer et al., 2012).”
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“It has been reported that ghrelin administration increases cortisol and growth hormone (GH), with only a weak trend toward mood improvement in male patients [270], and that ghrelin can alleviate anxiety after short-term stress by activating the HPA axis [271].”
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“Nevertheless, enthusiasm for these types of drugs has been hampered by evidence suggesting that stress-induced ghrelin secretion is necessary not only to maintain metabolic homeostasis but also to prevent stress-induced depressive like behaviors and reduce anxiety (28, 53, 54).”
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“This effect has also been found in animal models of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) (Spencer et al., 2012).”
BackgroundTo eat or not to eat: A role for ghrelin and LEAP2 in eating disorders?
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“…stress response (Kuru et al., 2000; Al-Barazanji et al., 2001; Sakamoto et al., 2004), similarly to that of EWcp-Ucn1 neurons (Kozicz et al., 2001, 2011a,b; Kozicz, 2003, 2007; Gaszner et al., 2004; Linden et al., 2004; Cunha et al., 2007; Xu et al., 2009; Okere et al., 2010; Spencer et al., 2012).”
BackgroundInfluentialImpact of [d-Lys3]-GHRP-6 and feeding status on hypothalamic ghrelin-induced stress activation
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The Pathologic Roles and Therapeutic Implications of Ghrelin/GHSR System in Mental Disorders
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“Moreover, a study has revealed that ghrelin can alleviate anxiety following short-term stress by activating the HPA axis [35].”
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Midbrain ghrelin receptor signalling regulates binge drinking in a sex specific manner
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“Our fi ndings differ from previous reports in Ghsr -GFP reporter mice suggesting expression overlapped >90% with the peptidergic marker Ucn1 23 ; however, this may be due to incomplete reporter expression, or expression levels required to drive recombination and reporter expression in a transgenic…”
InfluentialLi, J., & Ryabinin, A. E. (2022) · Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.07.002 · Cited by 9
Dagher, A., Neseliler, S., & Han, J.-E. (2016) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-805308-9.00032-4 · Cited by 8
Glucose availability regulates ghrelin‐induced food intake in the ventral tegmental area
Lockie, S., Stark, R., Spanswick, D., & Andrews, Z. (2019) · Journal of neuroendocrinology · doi:10.1111/jne.12696 · Cited by 7
A skeleton in the cupboard in ghrelin research: Where are the skinny dwarfs?
Peris‐Sampedro, F., May, M. V. L., Stoltenborg, I., Schéle, E., & Dickson, S. L. (2021) · Journal of Neuroendocrinology · doi:10.1111/jne.13025 · Cited by 8
Landrigan, J., Shawaf, F., Dwyer, Z., Abizaid, A. B., & Hayley, S. P. (2016) · Neuroscience Letters · doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2016.08.015 · Cited by 8
Experimental biology can inform our understanding of food insecurity
Wilbrecht, L., Lin, W. C., Callahan, K., Melissa Bateson, B., Myers, K. P., & Ross, R. (2024) · Journal of Experimental Biology · doi:10.1242/jeb.246215 · Cited by 7
“Stress-related food intake change is mediated by ghrelin (Chuang et al., 2011), potentially through an interaction between ghrelin and the HPA axis (Spencer et al., 2012, 2015).”
de Paula, D. E., Vilela, F. C., & Giusti‐Paiva, A. (2021) · Life Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.lfs.2021.120173 · Cited by 7
The Neurobiological Impact of Ghrelin Suppression after Oesophagectomy
Murphy, C. F., & le Roux, C. W. (2016) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms18010035 · Cited by 6
Calanni‐Pileri, M., Weitzel, J. M., Langhammer, M., Wytrwat, E., & Michaelis, M. (2022) · Reproduction in Domestic Animals · doi:10.1111/rda.14097 · Cited by 6
Shahryar, H. A., & Lotfi, A. (2017) · International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics · doi:10.1007/s10989-017-9588-2 · Cited by 5
“The significant impact of ghrelin on the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis has been documented in numerous reports and reviews (Spencer et al.”
BackgroundNucleus accumbens ghrelin signaling controls anxiety-like behavioral response to acute stress
Chang, L., He, Y., Tian, T., & Li, B. (2024) · Behavioral and Brain Functions · doi:10.1186/s12993-024-00244-z · Cited by 5
“In line with this, ghrelin knockout mice display more anxious after acute restraint stress, compared with wild-type mice [5].”
Ghrelin/GHSR System in Depressive Disorder: Pathologic Roles and Therapeutic Implications
Pan, X., Gao, Y., Guan, K., Chen, J., & Ji, B. (2024) · Current Issues in Molecular Biology · doi:10.3390/cimb46070434 · Cited by 6
Central Amygdala Neuroplasticity in Alcohol Dependence
Roberto, M., & Gilpin, N. (2014) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-405941-2.00011-0 · Cited by 9
Blunted anticipation but not consummation of food rewards in depressionPreprint
Schulz, C., Klaus, J., Peglow, F., Ellinger, S., Kühnel, A., Walter, M., & Kroemer, N. B. (2024) · medRxiv · doi:10.1101/2024.03.26.24304849 · Cited by 8
Yang, L., Zhang, M., Sun, X., Du, A.-Q., Jia, J., Li, N., Hu, G., Lu, Y., Wang, S., Zhang, J., et al. (2025) · Communications Biology · doi:10.1038/s42003-025-07802-9 · Cited by 4
“1 is not clear on when animals were sacrificed relative to the final measurement of EPM (or when EPM was conducted relative to the final restraint session).”
Leptin, Nesfatin-1, Orexin-A, and Total Ghrelin Levels in Drug-Naive Panic Disorder
Örüm, D., Korkmaz, S., İlhan, N., Örüm, M. H., & Atmaca, M. (2024) · Psychiatry Investigation · doi:10.30773/pi.2023.0309 · Cited by 4
“34,38 Studies suggesting that ghrelin has an anxiolytic effect include peripheral ghrelin administration, 35 while studies suggesting an anxiogenic effect include central ghrelin administration.”
BackgroundGhrelin in Depression: A Promising Therapeutic Target
Kore, M. S., Mamsa, R., Patil, D., & Bhatt, L. K. (2024) · Molecular Neurobiology · doi:10.1007/s12035-024-04554-1 · Cited by 4
“After persistent social defeat stress or acute restraint stress, GHSR and ghrelin null mice have considerably lower plasma corticosterone concentrations and exhibit more anxiety-like behavior [95, 97].”
Cavalcante, D. P., Turones, L. C., Camargo-Silva, G., Santana, J. S., Colugnati, D. B., Pansani, A. P., Xavier, C. H., & Pobbe, R. L. H. (2019) · Behavioural Brain Research · doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2019.03.017 · Cited by 4
“[25] used ghrelin knockout mice to assess the role of endogenous ghrelin in anxious behavior and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) responses to acute stress.”
Palus‐Chramiec, K., Sanetra, A. M., & Lewandowski, M. H. (2022) · Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.05.004 · Cited by 4
Potential of Heterogeneous Compounds as Antidepressants: A Narrative Review
Hu, G., Zhang, M., Wang, Y., Yu, M., & Zhou, Y. (2022) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms232213776 · Cited by 4
Smith, A., Rodrigues, T., Wallace, C. J. K., Mezher, K., MacAulay, B., Prowse, R., Hyland, L., & Abizaid, A. B. (2024) · Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2024.03.022 · Cited by 4
Šestan-Peša, M., Shanabrough, M., Horváth, T. L., & Miletta, M. C. (2023) · Biomedicines · doi:10.3390/biomedicines11010144 · Cited by 5
“GHSR and ghrelin knockout mice showed decreased plasma levels of corticosterone after chronic social defeat stress and acute restraint stress, as well as increased anxiety-like behavior [32,33].”
BackgroundSu, M., Cao, T., Feng, Y., Guo, Q., Fan, M., & Fang, D. Z. (2017) · Psychiatric Genetics · doi:10.1097/ypg.0000000000000180 · Cited by 4
“Furthermore, recent evidences suggest that ghrelin may play an important role in regulating the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) stress axis with exposures of stressors (Lutter et al., 2008; Spencer et al., 2012; Patterson et al., 2013).”
BackgroundPost-bariatric surgery quality-of-life decline: analysis of the gut–brain axis
Jiao, Y., Zhu, S., Xue, H., Wang, Y., Wang, Y., & Hou, D. (2025) · Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia Bulimia and Obesity · doi:10.1007/s40519-025-01784-7 · Cited by 3
“However, in ghrelin gene knockout mouse models, anxiety effects under acute stress are enhanced, while anxiety-like behaviors are reduced under non-stress conditions [28].”
Wittekind, D. A., Kratzsch, J., Mergl, R., Wirkner, K., Baber, R., Sander, C., Witte, A. V., Villringer, A., & Kluge, M. (2023) · Translational Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41398-023-02517-z · Cited by 3
Richardson, R. S., Kryszak, L. A., Vendruscolo, J. C. M., Koob, G. F., Leggio, L., & Vendruscolo, L. F. (2025) · Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2025.111341 · Cited by 3
Edwards, C. M., Guerrero, I. E., Dolezel, T., Zheng, H., & Rinaman, L. (2022) · Neuroendocrinology · doi:10.1159/000528828 · Cited by 3
Zhang, M., Yang, L., Mi, X., Hu, G., Lu, Y., Wang, C., Yang, J., Sun, X., Niu, M., Li, X., et al. (2025) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-025-59116-3 · Cited by 2
“Ghrelininhibits fear memory consolidation in unstressed rats 51 and reduces anxiety after acute stress 52 .”
The Role of the Ghrelin Receptor in Appetite and Energy Metabolism
Stark, R., & Andrews, Z. B. (2014) · The Receptors · doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-0823-3_3 · Cited by 2
Ghrelin Plays a Role in Various Physiological and Pathophysiological Brain Functions
Spencer, S. J. (2014) · The Receptors · doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-0823-3_12 · Cited by 2
Markopoulos, M. C., Barber, T. M., Bargiota, Α., Skevaki, C. L., Papassotiriou, I., Kumar, S., Vlahos, N., Mastorakos, G. P., & Valsamakis, G. (2023) · Endocrine · doi:10.1007/s12020-023-03406-7 · Cited by 2
“The enhanced secretion of ghrelin following exogenous CRH administration (a pathophysiologic consequence of acute stress), in PCOS postmenopausal women might be explained by previously described mechanisms [37, 48], in which acute stimulation of the HPA axis enhances ghrelin secretion and subsequent diminishment of an…”
Neurobiology of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder
Scharner, S. (2024) · Psychiatric Annals · doi:10.3928/00485713-20240117-02 · Cited by 3
Peri-adolescent THC exposure does not lead to anxiety-like behavior in adult micePreprint
Šestan-Peša, M., Shanabrough, M., Horváth, T. L., & Miletta, M. C. (2020) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2020.08.31.274274 · Cited by 2
“73 Ghrelin knockout (Ghr -/-) mice appear to be less anxious than their wild-type counterparts 74 under non-stressed conditions but displayed more anxious behavior under mild stress 75 conditions (15-min restraint) [26].”
BackgroundEdwards, C. M., Guerrero, I. E., Dolezel, T., Zheng, H., & Rinaman, L. (2022) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2022.02.11.480168 · Cited by 2
“Further, caloric restriction reduces innate avoidance behavior in wildtype mice but not in mice lacking ghrelin receptors (Lutter et al., 2008), which display more innate anxiety-like behavior than wildtype mice (Spencer et al., 2012).”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Spencer, S. J., Xu, L., Clarke, M. A., Lemus, M., Reichenbach, A., Geenen, B., Kozicz, T., & Andrews, Z. B.
- Affiliations
- Monash University (AU)
- Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Andrews, Zane B.
- Venue
- Biological Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-09
- Volume
- 72
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 457-465
- ISSN
- 0006-3223 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2068804599
- Cited by
- 241
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 21 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 8.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- figshare.com
- Licence
- Locations
- Biological Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RMIT Research Repository (RMIT University Library) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (1011274)
- Australian Research Council (DP109339)
- Monash Fellowship (FT100100966)
- National Health and Medical Research Council Peter Doherty Research Fellowship (465167)
- Endocrine Society of Australia Postdoctoral Fellowship (FT110100084)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuropeptides and Animal Physiology
- Keywords
- ghrelin, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, anxiety, acute stress, restraint stress, corticosterone, glucocorticoid negative feedback, ACTH, anterior pituitary, growth hormone secretagogue receptor, proopiomelanocortin, Edinger-Westphal nucleus, urocortin 1, paraventricular nucleus, amygdala, stress response
- MeSH terms
- Adrenocorticotropic Hormone, Analysis of Variance, Animals, Anxiety, Corticosterone, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone, Dexamethasone, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Pituitary-Adrenal System, Restraint, Physical, Stress, Psychological, Mice, Knockout, Mice, Ghrelin, Receptors, Ghrelin
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