Gut and Metabolic Hormones Changes After Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty (ESG) Vs. Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy (LSG)

Introduction: ESG reduces gastric lumen similar to LSG and induces significant weight loss. However, the metabolic and physiological alteration after ESG is not fully understood. We aim to study the gastrointestinal hormone changes after ESG and compared it with LSG.

Methods: We conducted a prospective pilot study comparing ESG and LSG at two centers in Spain. We administered a standard test meal after an overnight fast, and collected blood samples before and after meal. We measured the levels of ghrelin, GLP-1, peptide-YY, insulin, leptin, and adiponectin. We evaluated the hormone profile and weight changes (%TBWL) at baseline and at 6 months after the procedure.

Results: Twenty-four patients were recruited (ESG-12, LSG-12). The baseline age, sex, BMI, and fasting hormone levels were similar between the groups. At 6-month post-ESG, there was a significant decline in the leptin levels. We found a trend towards a decrease in insulin levels and improvement in insulin secretory pattern. We did not observe any change in fasting ghrelin levels, GLP-1, and PYY. At 6 months, LSG induced a significant reduction in the ghrelin, and leptin levels, and increase in peptide-YY, and adiponectin levels, respectively. A trend towards an increase in GLP-1 level was noted. However, no change in insulin was observed. LSG achieved greater %TBWL (24.4 vs. 13.3, p < 0.001) and significantly change in ghrelin, PYY, and adiponectin levels at 6 months compared to ESG.

Conclusion: ESG induced gut hormone changes differently as compared to LSG. ESG prevented a compensatory rise in ghrelin and promoted beneficial changes in the insulin secretory pattern with weight loss.