• Ghrelin, pancreas, fetus and neonate
• Animal physiology
• Perinatal physiology
• Prevention and treatment of childhood and adolescent obesity

Effect of maternal diabetes on the regulation of ghrelin in the feto-maternal unit: a study in animals and humans
Objectives:

• To compare the ghrelin response to a mixed-meal challenge in pregnant women with and without gestational diabetes (GD).
• To elucidate the respective roles of hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinism and insulin resistance on maternal plasma ghrelin concentrations.
• To investigate in rats the effect of GD on ghrelin in the offspring and to determine whether neonatal ghrelin administration prevents the long-term complications of GD in the offspring.

Effect of somatostatin on ghrelin concentrations, food seeking behaviour and weight in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome
Excessive weight gain is a cardinal feature of Prader-Willi syndrome, for which there is presently no effective treatment. Ghrelin, a newly-discovered hormone, is one of the most powerful appetite-stimulating substances known. It is mainly made by the stomach and is markedly elevated in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome, suggesting that it may be responsible for the increased food intake. Our objective is to determine whether one injection every four weeks, for a period of 12 weeks, of a long-acting analogue of somatostatin (a hormone that inhibits ghrelin), is effective in decreasing ghrelin concentrations, food intake and compulsive behaviour towards food in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome.

"Healthy Living: Children Teaching Children to Go Move, Go Fuel and Go Feel Good" (Short title: "Healthy Buddies")
We developed and piloted an education program ("Healthy Buddies") that targets attitudes and behaviours about body image, nutrition, and physical activity. The innovative aspect was the use of buddy teaching strategies, where grades 4-7 children teach their kindergarten to grade 3 (K-3) "buddies". Our objectives now are to generalize the program from a single school to a program that can be easily conducted by teachers in 20 elementary schools throughout the province and to ensure that the program is also relevant for all BC school populations (e.g. remote Northern, aboriginal, ESL, large urban, etc).

Ghrelin, obestatin and glucose regulation in the rat neonate
With the increasing evidence that the early neonatal period is critical for the long-term development of obesity and insulin resistance, the understanding of the short- and long-term effect of ghrelin and obestatin on weight gain and glucose homeostasis will lead to the evaluation of the potential opposing effects of these newly-discovered peptides on postnatal development, as well as on the potential role of ghrelin/obestatin receptor agonist/antagonists to optimize postnatal growth and pancreas development and prevent impairment of glucose metabolism.  Objectives of this future project are:

• To map the cellular localization of ghrelin and obestatin in the neonatal islet, and determine whether acylated ghrelin and obestatin have opposite effects on insulin and glucagon secretion in vitro and in vivo.
• To compare the short- and long-term effects of neonatal ghrelin or obestatin administration on weight gain, ß-cell mass and glucose homeostasis.
• To determine whether dietary octanoate during early feeding (PND 6 to 12) increases pancreas concentrations of acylated ghrelin and favours gluconeogenesis.

Walia P, Asadi A, Kieffer TJ, Johnson JD, Chanoine JP.: Ontogeny of ghrelin, obestatin, preproghrelin, and prohormone convertases in rat pancreas and stomach. Pediatr Res. 2009 Jan;65(1):39-44.

Bogarin R and Chanoine JP.: Efficacy, safety and tolerability of orlistat, a lipase inhibitor, in the treatment of adolescent weight excess. Therapy. 2009 Jan; 6(1):23-30.

De Waele K, Ishkanian SL, Bogarin R, Miranda CA, Ghatei MA, Bloom SR, Pacaud D, Chanoine JP.: Long-acting octreotide treatment causes a sustained decrease in ghrelin concentrations but does not affect weight, behaviour and appetite in subjects with Prader-Willi syndrome. Eur J Endocrinol. 2008 Oct;159(4):381-8.

P Walia, A Asadi, J Johnson, T Kieffer, JP Chanoine 2008 Ontogeny of ghrelin, obestatin, preproghrelin and prohormone convertases in rat pancreas and stomach. Pediatr Res (In press 2008)

JP Chanoine, K De Waele, P Walia. Ghrelin and the growth hormone secretagogue receptor in growth and development. Obesity (Review article, in press 2008)

JP Chanoine, K. MacKelvie, S Barr, A. Wong, G Meneilly and D Elahi. Glucagon-like peptide-1 and appetite responses to a meal in lean and overweight adolescents following exercise. Obesity 2008 Jan;16(1):202-4

S Stock, C Miranda, S Evans, S Plessis, J Ridley, S Yeh, JP Chanoine. Healthy Buddies©: a novel peer-led health promotion program for the prevention of obesity and eating disorders in elementary school children (www.healthybuddies.ca). Pediatrics 2007: 120:e1059-68

K Morrison, JP Chanoine. 8. The clinical evaluation of the obese child or adolescent. In: D Lau (ed). Canadian Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Prevention and Management of Obesity. CMAJ 2007:176 (8), S1-S5

KJ MacKelvie, GS Meneilly, ACK Wong, D Elahi, SI Barr, JP Chanoine. Regulation of appetite in lean and obese adolescents following exercise: role of acylated and desacyl ghrelin. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2007 Feb;92(2):648-54

JP Chanoine. Individual differences in the hormonal control of appetite: a step toward a (more) successful treatment of childhood overweight? 2006 J Clin Endocrinol Metab 91:2864-66.

JP Chanoine, ACK Wong. 2006 Obestatin, acylated and total ghrelin concentrations in the perinatal rat pancreas. Horm Res 66; 81-8

JP Chanoine, S Hampl , M Boldrin, J Hauptman, C Jensen. 2005 Effect of orlistat on weight and body composition in obese adolescents. JAMA 293:2873-2883 (editorial comment p 2932).

Wyeth Excellence in Teaching Award, Department of Pediatrics/BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver . (Most Valuable Teaching Service Award voted on by the Undergrad Committee: Division of Endocrinology) – 2002-2003 and 2004-2005

Best paper of the year, Can J Diab ( C Panagiotopoulos, J Preston, L Stewart, DL Metzger, JP Chanoine. – 2004 ( 2003 Telephone contact by a diabetes nurse educator improves hemoglobin A1c in adolescents with poorly controlled Type 1 Diabetes: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Can J Diab 27: 422-7)

Award of the Outstanding Achievement by a Resident ( D Hirsh, C Heinrichs, B Leenders, JP Chanoine . Plasma Ghrelin and Growth Hormone Response to Two Doses of Glucagon in Children and Adolescents) – 2004

Pallavi Walia, Research assistant
Ellen HeHong, Post doctoral fellow
Sue Stock, MD – Pediatric endocrinologist
D Barnum, V Ryden - School teachers (2003-2008)