Lipoproteins Obtained from Anorexia Nervosa Patients Induce Higher Oxidative Stress in U373MG Astrocytes Through Nitric Oxide Production

Abstract

Eating disorders (ED) are a group of important psychiatric disorders that affect young men and women, and can have serious consequences. Among all ED, anorexia nervosa (AN) is the most typical but also the most severe. The pathogenesis of AN is multifactorial and a great variety of cognitive deficits may contribute to its pathogenesis. The present study is aimed to measure NO and peroxynitrite production, iNOS and nNOS expression by Western immunoblot after incubation of AN lipoproteins at different times with human astrocytoma cells. The AN-HDL treated cells showed an increased production of NO at 3 h versus control-HDL treated cells and a decreased production at 24 h. Regarding LDL, a significant increase of NO production was obtained both at 3 and 24 h. The AN-HDL and AN-LDL treated cells showed an increased production of peroxynitrite both at 3 and 24 h compared to control lipoproteins. Densitometric analysis of bands indicated that both iNOS and nNOS protein levels were significantly higher in the cells incubated with AN lipoproteins compared to cells incubated with control lipoproteins both at 3 and 24 h. Although the pathogenesis of AN remains uncertain, evidence exists that modifications to the lipoprotein profile and cholesterol, structural alterations of phospholipids and integral constituents of myelin and synaptosomes may be related to psychotic disorders and body image distortion common to AN. Thus, a relevant pathophysiological association between NO and depression is certainly a possibility, as well as a central role played by NO in the pathogenesis.

Clinical and Peripheral Biomarkers in Female Patients Affected by Anorexia: Does the Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) Affect Severity?

“…In fact, it has been demonstrated that there is an antioxidant deficiency in AN [44,80]. Although modifications of the lipoprotein profile, the structure of phospholipids and constituents of myelin seemed to be related to specific clinical features of AN, such as body image distortion [81,82], the neurobiological underpinnings of AN are still uncertain and need to be further explored. Fourth, we measured AN severity using BMI as single parameter, according to the DSM-5; however, severity of AN is a more complex concept which includes, for example, rapidity of weight loss and body composition.…”

Anorexia Nervosa and the Immune System—A Narrative Review

“…Individuals with anorexia nervosa have increased oxidative stress [113,114,115,116], partially attributed to decreased levels of anti-oxidants [113,117,118]. Studies in this population have also found abnormalities in the electron transport chain, likely further contributing to increased oxidative stress [119,120].…”

Anorexia, undernutrition, weight loss, sarcopenia, and cachexia of aging

“…It has been suggested that this effect of testosterone on leptin is the reason for the increased anorexia that occurs in aging men compared with women [90]. Many of the orexigenic neuropeptides, which decline with aging, may play an important role in the anorexia with aging [55,57,68,80]. It is widely known that anorexia with aging makes the old people at major risk for having severe decreases in food intake [7,51,87].…”