Serum ghrelin levels in patients with Behcet's disease.

INTRODUCTION: Behcet's disease (BD) is a chronic, relapsing, systemic vasculitis of unknown etiology.

AIM: To measure serum ghrelin levels in BD patients and healthy controls and to investigate its association with metabolic syndrome (MetS).

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty BD patients and 30 healthy individuals were enrolled in the study. Ghrelin levels were measured in blood samples using ELISA.

RESULTS: The mean serum ghrelin level in BD patients (28.57 ±14.04) was significantly lower compared to healthy controls (40.72 ±23.21) (p = 0.01). The mean serum ghrelin level in BD patients who had MetS (24.18 ±12.73) was lower compared to BD patients who did not have MetS (30.77 ±14.45), but this difference was not significant (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Ghrelin levels were lower in BD patients compared to healthy controls. There was no association between reduced ghrelin levels and MetS; however, there was a negative correlation between ghrelin levels and disease activity.