title: Regional mu-opioid receptor binding in insular cortex is decreased in bulimia nervosa and correlates inversely with fasting behavior.
abstract: The endogenous opioid system of the brain has been implicated in feeding behavior. Abnormal repeated activation of this system may constitute a neural substrate for the compulsive eating behavior observed in bulimia nervosa. This study examined the binding potential of the brain mu-opioid receptor (mu-OR) in bulimia nervosa.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight women with bulimia nervosa and 8 female controls underwent brain MRI followed by (11)C-carfentanil PET. Voxel-based methods were used to assess group differences in mu-OR binding between controls and bulimic subjects and to correlate mu-OR binding with the frequency of recent self-reported abnormal eating behaviors in bulimic subjects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  mu-OR binding in the left insular cortex was less in bulimic subjects than in controls and correlated negatively with recent fasting behavior.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Changes in mu-OR binding in the insula may be important in the pathogenesis or maintenance of the self-perpetuating behavioral cycle of bulimic subjects because the insula is the primary gustatory cortex and has repeatedly been implicated in the processing of the reward value of food.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Badreddine
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bencherif
authors.forename: Angela S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Guarda
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Colantuoni
authors.forename: Hayden T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Ravert
authors.forename: Robert F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Dannals
authors.forename: J James
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Frost
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002032:Bulimia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005215:Fasting / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005283:Fentanyl / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006801:Humans; D011485:Protein Binding; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D017450:Receptors, Opioid, mu / Q000378:metabolism*; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D017450:Receptors, Opioid, mu; C017114:carfentanil; D005283:Fentanyl