Autoimmune Disorders May Underlie Some Cases of Anorexia and Bulimia...

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Autoimmune Disorders May Underlie Some Cases of Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa

By Reinberg

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Dec 09 - A disproportionate number of patients

with anorexia or bulimia nervosa have autoantibodies against

alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH), adrenocorticotropic

hormone (ACTH), and luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH), according

to a report in the PNAS Early Edition for the week of December 9th.

Lead author Dr. Sergue Fetissov from the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm,

told Reuters Health that he and his colleagues do not know if these

antibodies are relevant to the development or manifestation of

anorexia/bulimia. " However, since alpha-MSH and ACTH are known for their

involvement in the brain mechanism that controls feeding behavior, several

scenarios are possible where these autoantibodies can interfere with the

normal function of this mechanism, " Dr. Fetissov said.

The researchers identified such antibodies in sera from 42 of 57 (74%)

patients with anorexia or bulimia, and from 2 of 13 (16%) controls.

Since ACTH is a component of the brain-pituitary stress axis, it may be that

the presence of these antibodies is related to activation of the stress

axis. " Again we do not know if these antibodies were induced by stress

and/or their presence modified responses of the stress axis, " Dr. Fetissov

explained.

The research team is going to screen a larger group of patients with

stress-related disorders for the presence of autoantibodies against

neuropeptides of the stress axis; and also work with experimental models of

disorders potentially linked to autoantibodies against neuropeptides, Dr.

Fetissov commented.

" More research is needed before clinical applications of our findings can be

considered, but we hope to be able to explore to what extent there is a link

between the nervous and immune systems in anorexia and bulimia nervosa and

other stress-related disorders, " Dr. Fetissov said.

PNAS Early Edition 9 December 2002;

www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.222658699.