Lower serum leptin levels in female students of the nutritional sciences with eating disorders.
BACKGROUND
Evidence has accumulated that in both acutely ill and recovered patients with either anorexia or bulimia nervosa circulating leptin levels (LL) are lower than in controls matched for body mass index (BMI; kg/m(2)). It is unknown if these lower leptin levels represent a state or trait marker.


OBJECTIVE
We aimed to confirm the lowered leptin levels in eating disordered females and to identify underlying mechanisms.


METHODS
We screened 181 female students of the nutritional sciences for eating disorders with the respective module of the M-Composite International Diagnostic Interview and the Cognitive Restraint scale of the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire. The physical assessment included determinations of BMI, body composition and LL. Each case fulfilling lifetime DSM-IV criteria for an eating disorder was BMI matched to two controls. We used a multivariate mixed regression model to evaluate if the observed difference in lg(10)-leptin level between cases and controls is actually due to the influence of restrained eating and/or previous weight loss after adjustment for BMI and percent body fat.


RESULTS
In accordance with our hypothesis the 32 (17.7 %) cases had a lower serum lg(10)-leptin level than the 64 BMI matched controls (one-sided p < 0.001). We were not able to detect an influence of restrained eating or previous weight loss.


CONCLUSIONS
We confirm that females with a lifetime history of an eating disorder have lower LL. We were not able to identify an underlying mechanism. Similar to most previous studies we found a high rate of eating disorders among female students of nutritional sciences.
Frey
Joachim
J
Clinical Research Group, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Marburg, Hans-Sachs-Str. 6, 35033 Marburg, Germany.
Neuhäuser-Berthold
Monika
M
Elis
Stefanie A
SA
Duncker
Simone
S
Rose
Frederike
F
Blum
Werner F
WF
Remschmidt
Helmut
H
Geller
Frank
F
Hebebrand
Johannes
J
D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000097:blood; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002032:Bulimia / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood*; D011594:Psychometrics; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000502:physiology
D020738:Leptin