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Association of serum ghrelin with weight gain during pregnancy in overweight and normal women

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Abstract

Purpose

Despite the fact that the ghrelin hormone plays pivotal role in the process of weight gain, its correlation with weighing during pregnancy has not been elucidated. Hence, the present study was conducted to evaluate the correlation between plasma ghrelin levels and gestational weight gain in overweight and normal women.

Methods

This prospective cohort study was conducted in 27 overweight and 18 normal body mass index (BMI) pregnant women referring to Tehran health care centers. Weight gain during all trimesters of pregnancy was measured and the blood samples were collected at 8–12 (first trimester) and 16–20 weeks (second trimester) of pregnancy. The plasma total ghrelin concentration was measured by ELISA method.

Results

The overweight pregnant women exhibited significantly lower weight gain at the second (p = 0.002), third trimesters (p = 0.005) as well as total weighing during pregnancy (p = 0.001) compared to the normal BMI pregnant women. There was no significant difference in plasma ghrelin levels between the groups from the first to the second trimesters of pregnancy (p > 0.05). Moreover, no correlation was found between ghrelin levels and gestational weight gain in the overweight and normal groups.

Conclusions

Our results indicate that the increased level of serum ghrelin could not be considered as a key mediator for weight gain difference during pregnancy of overweight women.

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Funding

This work was supported by a scientific grant from Tarbiat Modares University (22595).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Midwifery and Reproductive Health, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

    N. Tehranian

  2. Cellular and Molecular Research Center,Department of Anatomy, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran

    M. Hosseini

  3. Reproductive Endocrinology Research Center, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    F. Ramezani-Tehrani

  4. Department of Midwifery and Reproductive Health, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, 9717853577, Iran

    S. Yousefi

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  1. N. Tehranian
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  2. M. Hosseini
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  3. F. Ramezani-Tehrani
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  4. S. Yousefi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Yousefi.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical approval

The protocol was approved by Tarbiat Modares University (552/5059).

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all participants.

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Tehranian, N., Hosseini, M., Ramezani-Tehrani, F. et al. Association of serum ghrelin with weight gain during pregnancy in overweight and normal women. J Endocrinol Invest 42, 809–813 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-018-0986-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-018-0986-x

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