Journal
EUROPEAN ARCHIVES OF PSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 260, Issue 6, Pages 483-490Publisher
SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
DOI: 10.1007/s00406-009-0092-3
Keywords
Anorexia nervosa; Serotonin transporter; Platelet; 5-HTTLPR deletion/insertion polymorphism; Leptin
Categories
Funding
- Charite Research Fund
- German Research Fund (DFG)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Serotonin (5-HT) pathways play an important role in the pathophysiology of anorexia nervosa (AN). In this study, we investigated functional characteristics of the platelet 5-HT transporter and platelet 5-HT content in AN patients at various stages of their illness in comparison to healthy control woman (HCW) controlling for the 5-HTTLPR deletion/insertion polymorphism and other confounding variables. Fasting blood samples of 58 acutely underweight AN patients (acAN, BMI = 15.2 +/- A 1.4), 26 AN patients of the initial acAN sample after short-term/partial weight restoration (BMI = 17.3 +/- A 0.9), 36 weight-recovered AN patients (recAN, BMI = 20.7 +/- A 2.2) and 58 HCW (BMI = 21.6 +/- A 2.0) were assessed for kinetic characteristics of platelet 5-HT uptake (V (max), K (m)) and platelet 5-HT content. Plasma leptin served as an indicator of malnutrition. Mean V (max) and K (m) values were significantly higher in recAN subjects in comparison to HCW (2.05 +/- A 0.62 vs. 1.66 +/- A 0.40 nmol 5-HT/10(9) platelets min and 432 +/- A 215 vs. 315 +/- A 136 nmol, respectively) but there were no differences in platelet 5-HT content (464.8 +/- A 210.6 vs. 472.0 +/- A 162.2 ng 5-HT/10(9) platelets). 5-HT parameters in acAN patients and HCW were similar. 5-HTTLPR variants were not related to 5-HT platelet variables. In the longitudinal part of the study we found significantly increased 5-HT content but unchanged 5-HT uptake in AN patients after short-term/partial weight restoration. Our results highlight the importance of malnutrition for the interpretation of abnormalities in neurotransmitter systems in AN. Changes in platelet 5-HT transporter activity were related to the stage of the illness but not to 5-HTTLPR genotype. Increased V (max) and K (m) in recovered AN patients might mirror adaptive modulations of the 5-HT system.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available