title: Angiotensin-converting enzyme and anorexia nervosa.
abstract: Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity was measured in 10 patients with anorexia nervosa, 6 with hyperthyroid Graves' disease, and 7 with primary hypothyroidism. Patients with anorexia nervosa had a low serum ACE activity (9.8 +/- 2.2 IU/l), as compared to findings in normal subjects (13.4 +/- 3.5 IU/l) (P less than 0.05). Patients with hyperthyroid Graves' disease had high serum ACE activity (23.7 +/- 5.8 IU/l), as compared to levels in normal subjects (P less than 0.01), and patients with primary hypothyroidism tended to have low serum ACE activity (10.1 +/- 1.8 IU/l), compared to the normal subjects (P less than 0.1). Following weight gain (before; 71.3 +/- 10.2% of ideal body weight, after; 88.7 +/- 5.6% of ideal body weight), serum ACE activity in patients with anorexia nervosa reverted to within the normal range (13.8 +/- 3.5 IU/l), and serum T3 concentration was restored to the normal range (before; 0.7 +/- 0.2 ng/ml, after; 1.1 +/- 0.3 ng/ml). In these patients, ACE activity correlated with the per cent of ideal body weight (P less than 0.05). These data suggest that, in underweight subjects with anorexia nervosa, decreased serum ACE activities may relate to emaciation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsubayashi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tamai
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takaichi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fukata
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hirota
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuma
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Kumagai
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000097:blood / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D006111:Graves Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000201:enzymology; D006801:Humans; D007037:Hypothyroidism / Q000097:blood / Q000201:enzymology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / Q000097:blood*; D014284:Triiodothyronine / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D014284:Triiodothyronine; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A