Emotional eating and in vivo norepinephrine transporter availability in obesity: A [11C]MRB PET pilot study.
Emotional eating (EE) has been linked to norepinephrine dysfunction. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the relationship between EE and norepinephrine transporter (NET) availability.



Ten severely obese individuals (body mass index (BMI) 42.4 ± 3.7 kg/m2) and ten non-obese, healthy controls (BMI 23.9 ± 2.5 kg/m2) matched for age and sex were studied using (S,S)-[11C]-O-methylreboxetine ([11C]MRB) positron emission tomography (PET). Kinetic modeling of regional tissue time activity curves was performed using multilinear reference tissue model 2 (MRTM2, with the occipital cortex as a reference region) to estimate binding potential based on individual PET-MR coregistration. To test for associations of EE and NET availability, participants completed the EE subscale of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire before scanning.



Obese individuals and non-obese, healthy controls did not significantly differ regarding EE scores and regional NET availability. For obese individuals only, correlative data analyses pointed to a sinoidal distribution pattern as a higher degree of EE related to lower NET availability in the locus coeruleus and to higher NET availability in the left thalamus.



These results indicate that central in vivo NET availability is altered in EE of individuals with obesity. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.(Int J Eat Disord 2017; 50:152-156).
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Leipzig, Germany.
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Bresch
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Leipzig, Germany.|Integrated Treatment and Research Centre (IFB) Adiposity Diseases, Leipzig University Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany.
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Rullmann
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Leipzig, Germany.
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Luthardt
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Leipzig, Germany.
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Becker
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Leipzig, Germany.
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Reissig
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Leipzig, Germany.
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Patt
Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.|Department of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York.
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Ding
Integrated Treatment and Research Centre (IFB) Adiposity Diseases, Leipzig University Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany.|Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
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Hilbert
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Leipzig, Germany.|Integrated Treatment and Research Centre (IFB) Adiposity Diseases, Leipzig University Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany.
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Sabri
Department of Nuclear Medicine, Leipzig, Germany.|Integrated Treatment and Research Centre (IFB) Adiposity Diseases, Leipzig University Medical Center, Leipzig, Germany.
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Hesse
D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000378:metabolism / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008125:Locus Coeruleus / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009025:Morpholines; D050484:Norepinephrine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000378:metabolism*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D000077593:Reboxetine; D013788:Thalamus / Q000378:metabolism
D009025:Morpholines; D050484:Norepinephrine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; C524178:O-methyl reboxetine; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D000077593:Reboxetine
Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire; PET; [11C]MRB; emotional eating; norepinephrine transporter; obesity