Thus, while ghrelin stimulates food intake and weight gain, it may also induce mechanisms of cell protection, at least in part through direct anti-inflammatory effects on astrocytes and this could help to delay systemic inflammatory responses and hypothalamic gliosis due to excess weight gain, which in turn would delay the onset of obesity-associated pathologies [20]. This evidence concerns the gene GHRL and obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.