Research paves way for minimally-invasive alternative to bariatric surgery

An alternative to bariatric surgery may soon be available after researchers have discovered a minimally-invasive method of suppressing the so-called “hunger hormone” ghrelin.

Aravind Arepally, clinical director of the Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine, and colleagues managed to significantly suppress levels of ghrelin in pigs by using a minimally-invasive technique to chemically vaporize the main blood vessel carrying blood to the fundus of the stomach. Approximately 90% of ghrelin originates in the fundus, which relies upon a good blood supply to produce the hormone. Results showed that the effects of the procedure, called gastric artery chemical embolization (GACE), were comparative to those achieved with highly-invasive and high-risk bariatric surgery.

For the procedure, the researchers, using X-rays for guidance, threaded a thin tube up through a large blood vessel near to the pigs' groins and then into the gastric arteries, which supply blood to the stomach. They then administered injections of sodium morrhuate, a chemical that destroys the blood vessels, into the left gastric arteries of five control pigs. Results showed that the procedure suppressed ghrelin levels by as much as 60%.

Arepally A, Barnett BP, Patel TT, Howland V, Boston RC, Kraitchman DL, Malayeri AA. Catheter-directed Gastric Artery Chemical Embolization Suppresses Systemic Ghrelin Levels in Porcine Model. Radiology 2008;249:127-133.