Background: The ghrelin and leptin levels have been reported to be correlated with weight loss after bariatric surgery. However, the serial changes of ghrelin and leptin levels after laparoscopic minigastric bypass surgery (LMGBP) have not been reported yet. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate their serial changes and to analyze their relations to weight reduction after LMGBP.
Methods: Serial fasting serum leptin and ghrelin concentrations were measured in 68 morbidly obese patients before (M0) and 1 (M1), 3 (M3), 6 (M6), and 12 (M12) months after LMGBP surgery. The correlations between ghrelin, insulin, and leptin concentrations and weight reduction were analyzed.
Results: Leptin levels were significantly reduced at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery, respectively (vs M0, p < 0.001), whereas the ghrelin concentrations were not significantly changed after surgery. The percent of excess BMI lost (%EBL) 12 months after surgery was negatively correlated with higher preoperative ghrelin concentrations (p = 0.004) and larger preoperative BMI (p = 0.002) in the multivariate analysis.
Conclusion: Higher preoperative ghrelin concentrations and larger BMI are predictive of less %EBL at 12 months after LMGBP surgery.