Ghrelin and eating disorders

Abstract

Background: Ghrelin is a potent hormone with central and peripheral action. This hormone plays an important role in the regulation of appetite, food intake, and energy balance. Studies have suggested that ghrelin is involved with eating disorders (ED), particularly bingeing and purging. Genetic variants have also been studied to explain changes in eating behavior. Methods: We conducted a literature review; we searched PubMed, Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), and LILACS databases using the keywords "eating disorder", "ghrelin", "polymorphism", "anorexia nervosa", "bulimia nervosa", "binge eating disorder", and their combinations. We found 319 articles. Thirty-nine articles met the inclusion criteria. Results: High levels of ghrelin were found in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), especially in the purging subtype (AN-P). There was also a positive correlation between fasting ghrelin level and frequency of episodes of bingeing/purging in bulimia nervosa (BN) and the frequency of bingeing in periodic binge eating disorder (BED). Some polymorphisms were associated with AN and BN. Conclusion: Changes in ghrelin levels and its polymorphism may be involved in the pathogenesis of EDs; however, further studies should be conducted to clarify the associations.

Association between eating disorders, suicide and depressive symptoms in undergraduate students of health-related courses

“…Psychological, social and familyrelated factors contribute to the ideation of a perfect body and shape imposed by society. (3,4,21,22) The desire to lose weight and the constant fear of weight gain are the major drivers of food-related concerns and adoption of self-guided dietary and physical exercise programs aimed to achieve socially perceivable weight loss. Anxiety and body-image disorders are major factors leading to eating disorders development.…”

“…(3)(4)(5) Eating disorders are severe, multifactorial psychiatric disorders characterized by altered eating behaviors and comprising two major subtypes: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. (1,3,4) These disorders are associated with high mortality rates, disability, physical and psychological morbidity, and poorer quality of life. (6,7) Huge attention on the part of public health policies is required, given victims tend to hide the disease and not to seek professional help.…”

Identifying tissues implicated in Anorexia Nervosa using Transcriptomic Imputation

“…Further, behavioural patterns in individuals with AN (for example excessive exercise 109–111 and lack of sleep) have long provided epidemiological evidence for circadian rhythm disruption in AN. Circadian rhythms may also have a role is regulating appetite and satiety pathways 7,112,113 .…”

“…Other observations include that individuals with AN tend to find eating aversive, and feelings of fullness unpleasant; dieting, restricting, and binge-purge behaviours tend to alleviate uncomfortable or painful associations with fullness in these individuals and reduce anxiety 6 . Although aversion to fullness and low appetite could be driven by dysfunction of neurobiological satiety pathways or altered levels of orexigenic hormones 7 , it is also possible that specific metabolic or gastric dysfunction enables and perpetuates dieting behaviours.…”

Bulimia nervosa risk factors (BN): key elements of health care security. A review of the literature/Factores de riesgo en la Bulimia Nerviosa (BN): elementos claves de seguridad en el cuidado de la salud. Una revisión de la literatura

“…Respecto de los factores biológicos, Bustamante-Cabrera y Justo-Quisbert (2013) señalan que la disminución del ácido GABA (gamma-amino-butírico) durante cuadros de ánimos bajos, se identifica un estado de percepciones distorsionadas sobre sí mismo, que pueden, en consecuencia, estimular un deseo incontrolable de comer con el fin de liberar serotonina y sentirse mejor. También en un factor biológico relacionado con la conducta alimentaria, se advierte que el gen de la Grelina puede estar relacionado con comportamientos de purga y atracones (Fabbri et al, 2015).…”