The appetite stimulating hormone ghrelin may also impact the intensity of sexual desire. This is the outcome of a Swedish study in mice that was presented in "Addiction Biology".
Since ghrelin is integrated into the brain's reward system and the sex drive is also linked to the reward system, researchers at the University of Gothenburg tested whether or not there is an association between the hormone and sexual desire.
They administered a supplement of ghrelin to the mice and found that the animals' sexual activity increased. The association was also confirmed in the opposite direction: when ghrelin was inhibited with drugs, the sexual activity of the mice decreased.
"However, this does not mean that ghrelin fills the same function in humans", said study author Elisabet Jerlhag. But if further studies confirm this, ghrelin could be a target for treatment of people prone to sex addiction or to sexually abusing others.
Univadis
