The gut peptide ghrelin also plays a fundamental role in eating and energy regulation and there have been indications that ghrelin functioning might contribute to depressive illness. Like leptin, ghrelin receptors have been reported in the midbrain and the dorsal raphe nucleus and have been associated with reward processes, as well as stressor-induced depressive-like symptoms, such as anhedonia. In line with a role for ghrelin in stressor-elicited depression, negative events promote an increase of circulating ghrelin levels and in emotionally reactive individuals the normalization of ghrelin levels after stress may be attenuated. Moreover, ghrelin was elevated among depressed patients and declined following pharmacotherapy and among patients who did not respond to treatment, ghrelin levels were higher than among patients who responded positively.