ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the change of the level of blood ghrelin in the children with anorexia and its relationship with insulin sensitivity.Methods Height,weight,body mass index(BMI)of 40 children in anorexia group,20 healthy children in control group were measured;the level of blood grelin,insulin and blood glucose were determined;insulin sensitivity index(ISI) was calculated,then the results in both groups were analyzed.Results Levels of height,weight and BMI in anorexia group were significantly lower than those of control group.The ghrelin and ISI levels in anorexia group were significantly higher than those in control group,but the insulin and glucose levels were significantly lower in anorexia group than those in control group,the differences were significant.Ghrelin level showed negative correlation with insulin and blood glucose concentration in both groups and positive correlation with ISI level.Conclusions The decrease of appetite in children with anorexia may not necessarily result from under-secretion of ghrelin.The increase of insulin sensitivity in children with anorexia may be a response to high level of ghrelin secretion.