Gender Difference of Circulating Ghrelin and Leptin Concentrations in Chronic Helicobacter pylori Infection

Background: Both ghrelin and leptin are important appetite hormones secreted from the stomach. We examined whether demographic background, Helicobacter pylori infection, or its related gastritis severity could be associated with circulating ghrelin and leptin levels. Methods: This study prospectively enrolled 341 dyspeptic patients (196 females, 145 males), who had received endoscopy to provide the gastric specimens over both antrum and corpus for histology reviewed by the updated Sydney's system. The fasting blood sample of each patient was obtained for total ghrelin and leptin analysis. Results: Without H. pylori infection, there were similar ghrelin levels between female and male patients. In the H. pylori‐infected patients, the males had lower plasma ghrelin levels than females (1053 vs. 1419 pg/mL, p