Fig. 3.

The somatostatin receptor subtype 2 (sst₂) agonist decreases circulating acyl and desacyl ghrelin levels in overnight-fasted rats implanted with an intrajugular catheter. The sst₂ agonist (100 μg/rat in 200 μl saline containing 0.1% BSA) or vehicle (saline containing 0.1% BSA) was injected intravenously (iv) twice at 0 and 0.5 h. Blood was withdrawn before the second injection at 0.5 and at 2 h and processed for acyl (A) and total ghrelin measurement. Desacyl ghrelin (B) was calculated as the difference of total minus acyl ghrelin for each individual sample. Each bar represents the means ± SE of number of rats indicated at the bottom of the column. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ***P < 0.001 vs. vehicle.