ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the correlation between the serum ghrelin levels and nutrition state in the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) ,as well as to explore the role of ghxelin in the nutri-tion metabolism. Methods Fifty-three COPD patients were observed, thirty-one of them were with malnutrition (group A), twenty-two COPD patients with normal nutrition status(group B), and twenty were healthy controls.Serum ghrelin, and nutritional parameters such as body mass index(BMI), ideal body weitht( % IBW), mid-upper arm cricumference(MAC), serum albumin(ALB), total lymphocyte counts(LYM) were determined. The correlation between ghrelin and nutritional parameters was analysed. Resuits The level of serum ghrelin in group A were sig-nificantly higher than those in group B and in healthy controls. And the serum ghrelin showed a negative correlation with BMI, % IBW, MAC, but there was no correlation between serum ghrelin level, ALB and LYM. Conclusion Ghrelin participated in the nutrition metabolism in patients with COPD, it would become much higher because of malnutrition in COPD.