ghrelin mimetic

The experimental drug MK-677, a synthetic GHRS, ghrelin mimetic, which is given orally, has recently been shown to increase IGF-1 and muscle mass in the elderly. We will study the effects of MK-677 on renal patients. Some ghrelin mimetics are orally active, raising the tantalizing possibility that growth hormone testing could become as simple as an oral glucose tolerance test.

MK-677, the first orally active ghrelin mimetic (a growth hormone secretagogue and growth hormone secretagogue?receptor agonist), increases pulsatile growth hormone secretion in older adults to levels observed in young adults (9, 10). Our primary objectives were to determine whether 25 mg of oral MK-677 daily would increase growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) levels in healthy older adults, prevent the decline in fat-free mass, and decrease abdominal visceral fat, with acceptable tolerability. Two weeks gavage treatment with the ghrelin mimetic, MK-0677, to rats increased NPY and POMC mRNA in the arcuate nucleus and MCH mRNA in the lateral hypothalamus. Thus, while predicted pro-obesity ghrelin signalling pathways were activated by ghrelin and ghrelin mimetics, these were largely unaffected by gastrectomy. Pugliese was Director of Clinical Operations at Sapphire Therapeutics, where she assisted in the initiation of early Phase II studies for Anamorelin, a novel ghrelin mimetic for the treatment of cancer related cachexia. Pugliese joined The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research where she restructured their global clinical development program for their cancer vaccine and targeted antibody research.