Christina Dalla

1 Introduction The orexigenic peptide ghrelin is mainly produced by the stomach and acts on the brain to promote feeding behavior (Wren et al., 2000). Ghrelin acts via the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR), which is abundantly expressed in brain regions known to regulate homeostatic and hedonic feeding (Kojima et al., 1999). For example, the receptor is found in the hypothalamus and brainstem areas, as well as areas within the mesolimbic pathway (Zigman et al., 2006).

1 INTRODUCTION It is well known that environmental factors interact with biological and genetic factors to influence the development and health of an organism (Donkin & Barrès, 2018; Estrela et al., 2019).

Sex and gender play an important role in mental health. Clinical and preclinical research for novel treatments need to take this serious matter under consideration. The development of safe and effective treatments for specific populations can be achieved only with enhanced and targeted funding that will generate robust and reliable data.