Ischemic stroke occurs as a result of an obstruction within a blood vessel 
supplying blood to the brain. Gastrointestinal mucosal damage not only induces 
local and systemic inflammatory reactions but may also result in multiple organ 
dysfunction syndrome. We studied whether the changes in serum ghrelin and small 
intestinal motility occur in cerebral ischemia. The focal cerebral ischemia rat 
models were produced by the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) method. The 
MCAO group was further equally divided into five subgroups at 3, 6, 12, 24, and 
48 hr, and the sham operated rats were used as controls. Serum ghrelin level was 
analyzed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and small intestinal motility 
was measured by methylene blue staining. The ileum tissue was examined by light 
and electron microscopy. The neurologic scores were 0 for all the rats in the 
control group and 2-3 for those in the MCAO group, suggesting that rat models 
were established successfully. The serum ghrelin level was higher in the MCAO 
group when compared with the control group (P < 0.05). However, the impelling 
force in MCAO rats was significantly lower than that of the control group (P < 
0.05), reaching the lowest level at 24 hr. Damage to the intestinal mucosa, 
including villus intestinalis, vacuolar degeneration of organelles, widened 
cell-cell junctions, and apoptotic cells could be found under the light and 
electron microscopy. Our results showed that higher level of serum ghrelin 
decreased gastrointestinal motility and damage to the intestinal mucosa existed 
in rats with MCAO.