Study on absorption evaluation of salmon ghrelin taken orally and its safety as a functional food

Abstract

One of the hallmarks of life as an animal is the need and ability to consume food, digest it and convert this biomass into essential nutrients, the digestive system is, in fact, one of the centrally important organs in any animal. It is also a complex environment and the body dedicates a huge amount of resources towards supporting it. Blood vessels, nerves, hormones and energy are abundant in and around the digestive system, and understanding this immensely important organ and how it functions can yield discoveries that impact our health. One way that digestive research is producing results is the discovery of specific peptides in the digestive system of animals that might have therapeutic value in humans. Professor Minoru Kihara, based at the Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Digestive Physiology, School of Biological Sciences at Tokai University, Japan, is leading a research team that is discovering that the level of similarity in the peptides found in the digestive tract of animals can be high, even between disparate species like humans and fish. This means the fish stomach may offer important benefits to human health.