ghrelin does not alter aortic intima-media thickness and adipose tissue characteristics in control and obese mice

objective(s): atherosclerosis is a chronic immune-inflammatory disease that generally leads to ischemic heart disease. ghrelin has several modulatory effects on cardiovascular system. in this study, we investigated the effect of ghrelin on aortic intima-media thickness, size and the number of adipocyte cells in obese and control mice. materials and methods:this study was conducted on 24 male c57bl/6 mice. the animals were divided into four groups: control, obese (received high fat diet), control+ghrelin (injected with 100 µg/kg subcutaneously, bid) and obese+ghrelin (n=6 each). after 10 days, animals were sacrificed and epididymal adipose tissue and thoracic aortae were removed. adipocyte cell number, size and aortic intima-media thickness were evaluated. results:ghrelin did not change adipocyte cell number and size and aortic intima-media thickness in obese and control mice. in this study, high fat diet significantly decreased the number of adipocyte cells while increased their size (p<0.05). ghrelin administration had no significant effect on adipocyte cell number and size in obese and control groups (p >0.05). in addition, it could not alter aortic intima-media thickness in both groups. conclusion: although ghrelin has several cardiovascular effects, it seems that it could not alter the size and number of adipocyte cells and aortic intima-media thickness in diet-induced obese mice