RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Sleeve gastrectomy is one of the main techniques used to treat severe obesity. The study of the immunohistochemical expression of ghrelin in the gastric mucosa has already been related to weight loss and can be a promising method to predict the surgical outcome. PURPOSE: To analyze the immunohistochemical expression of ghrelin in the gastric mucosa and its correlation with weight loss, comorbidities, and inflammatory changes after sleeve gastrectomy. METHODS: Thirty-five patients submitted to sleeve gastrectomy were evaluated, 29 of whom were female (82.9%), with a mean age of 35.2 years and an average body mass index of 38.1 kg/m2. Endoscopic samples of the mucosa were collected, whose ghrelin expression was evaluated in a semi-quantitative way through the stained antibody area. These data were correlated with weight loss at 3, 6, and 12 months and with the control of comorbidities, and inflammatory alterations. RESULTS: The average total weight loss (TWL%) was 17.7, 26.4, and 32.1%, respectively, at 3, 6, and 12 months. A negative correlation was found between the immunohistochemical expression of ghrelin in the endoscopic biopsy of the fundus and weight loss at 3 (s = - 0.536; p = 0.001) and 6 months (s = - 0.339; p = 0.047). CONCLUSION: The immunohistochemical expression of ghrelin in the mucosa of the gastric fundus was negatively correlated with early weight loss after sleeve gastrectomy.