Ghrelin is an orexigenic hormone that regulates homeostatic and reward-related feeding
behavior. Recent evidence indicates that acylation of ghrelin by the gut enzyme ghrelin O-
acyl transferase (GOAT) is necessary to render ghrelin maximally active within its target
tissues. Here we tested the hypothesis that GOAT activity modulates food motivation and
food hedonics using behavioral pharmacology and mutant mice deficient for GOAT and the
ghrelin receptor (GHSR). We evaluated operant responding following pharmacological …