Fig. 4.
Cold ambient temperature reverses the abdominal surgery-induced decrease of acyl and desacyl ghrelin levels. Overnight fasted rats equipped with a chronic intravenous catheter underwent abdominal surgery and were kept in semi-restraint Bollman cages at normal (21–23 °C) or cold (4–6 °C) ambient temperature for 90 min. A control group was sham treated (anesthesia alone) and kept at room temperature afterwards. Blood was withdrawn at 30 and 90 min post treatment. Acyl ghrelin (A) and total ghrelin levels were assessed by radioimmunoassay. Desacyl ghrelin (B) was obtained by calculating the difference of total ghrelin minus acyl ghrelin. Each bar represents the mean ± sem of 4–5 rats per group. * p < 0.05 and ** p < 0.01 vs. sham at the respective time point. ## p < 0.01 and ### p < 0.001 vs. abdominal surgery/cold at the respective time point.