TABLE 3

Potency and efficacy of ghrelin in the presence of increasing concentrations of MK-677, L-692,585, and GHRP-6 as measured using a [³⁵S]GTPγS scintillation proximity assay

Data were fitted with concentration-response curves with the Hill slope shared between datasets.

The Hill slopes were 1.07 ± 0.31 for MK-677, 1.14 ± 0.28 for L-692,585, and 1 for GHRP-6. E_MAX is displayed as percentage of maximum response of ghrelin in the absence of growth hormone secretagogues. Data are presented as mean ± S.E.M.

Condition	pEC₅₀	E_MAX
Ghrelin only	8.54 ± 0.02	96.0 ± 0.8
+ 0.03 nM MK-677	7.84 ± 0.06*	117.2 ± 1.8**
+ 0.1 nM MK-677	8.03 ± 0.31	121.5 ± 6.6**
+ 1 nM MK-677	9.07 ± 0.12	159.0 ± 1.7**
+ 3 nM MK-677	8.50 ± 0.07	190.8 ± 1.3**
Ghrelin only	8.54 ± 0.05	97.3 ± 1.8
+ 3 nM L-692,585	8.03 ± 0.27	111.7 ± 7.7
+ 10 nM L-692,585	Not fitted	Not fitted
+ 30 nM L-692,585	9.53 ± 0.78	129.8 ± 10.6*
+ 1 μM L-692,585	7.80 ± 0.39	177.9 ± 5.6**
Ghrelin only	8.64 ± 0.02	100.2 ± 0.7
+ 0.1 nM GHRP-6	8.32 ± 0.21*	108.3 ± 7.6
+ 1 nM GHRP-6	8.01 ± 0.08	103.1 ± 1.5
+ 10 nM GHRP-6	9.01 ± 0.15	134.3 ± 2.2**
+ 100 nM GHRP-6	7.67 ± 0.15**	187.6 ± 2.5**

↵* P < 0.05, one-way ANOVA with Dunnett's post hoc test.
↵** P < 0.01, one-way ANOVA with Dunnett's post hoc test.