ArticlePsychoneuroendocrinology2020
Developmental stage-dependent relationships between ghrelin levels and hippocampal white matter connections in low-weight anorexia nervosa and atypical anorexia nervosa.
Article in Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Nutritional state-dependent changes in subcortical limbic structures in anorexia nervosa are linked to leptin, ghrelin, and neurofilament light.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Dynamic white matter microstructure in anorexia nervosa: associations with neurofilament light and leptin across early weight restoration.Research square · 2026Article
- Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity as a Cause of Dietary Restriction in Eating Disorders.The International journal of eating disorders · 2025Review
- Gut-derived appetite regulating hormones across the anorexia nervosa spectrum.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Article
- Neural activation of regions involved in food reward and cognitive control in young females with anorexia nervosa and atypical anorexia nervosa versus healthy controls.Translational psychiatry · 2023Article
- Medical complications and management of atypical anorexia nervosa.Journal of eating disorders · 2022Review
- Differential comorbidity profiles in avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder and anorexia nervosa: Does age play a role?The International journal of eating disorders · 2022Article
- Low oxytocin levels are broadly associated with more pronounced psychopathology in anorexia nervosa with primarily restricting but not binge/purge eating behavior.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Article
- Opposing white matter microstructure abnormalities in 22q11.2 deletion and duplication carriers.Translational psychiatry · 2021Article
- Ghrelin and PYY in low-weight females with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder compared to anorexia nervosa and healthy controls.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2021Article
- Eighteen-month Course and Outcome of Adolescent Restrictive Eating Disorders: Persistence, Crossover, and Recovery.Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53Observational
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionDisruptions in homeostatic and hedonic food motivation are proposed to underlie anorexia nervosa (AN) and atypical AN, restrictive eating disorders which commonly onset in puberty. Ghrelin, a neuroprotective hormone that drives hedonic eating is increased in AN and is expressed in the hippocampus. White matter (WM) undergoes significant change during puberty in regions involved in food motivation, particularly WM tracts connected with the hippocampus. The association between ghrelin and WM region of interest (ROI) with hippocampal connections in restrictive eating disorders, particularly in adolescence during key neurodevelopmental growth, is unknown.
methodsWe evaluated fasting plasma ghrelin and WM microstructure (measured by free-water corrected fractional anisotropy (FA-t)) in WM ROIs with hippocampal connections - the fornix and the hippocampal portion of the cingulum - in 56 adolescent females (age range: 11.9 - 22.1 y; mean: 19.0 y) with low-weight eating disorders including AN and atypical AN (N = 36) and healthy controls (N = 20).
resultsFA-t in the fornix or hippocampal portion of the fornix did not differ between groups. Ghrelin was higher in AN/atypical AN vs. HC and was positively correlated with puberty stage in the AN/atypical AN group, but not the HC group. The correlation between ghrelin and FA-t in the fornix was significantly different in females with AN/atypical AN compared to controls. In AN/atypical AN, pubertal stage moderated the relation between fasting plasma ghrelin and FA-t in the fornix: higher fasting ghrelin was associated with lower FA-t in the fornix in late-post-puberty, but was not associated with FA-t in the early to mid stages of puberty.
conclusionsIn post-pubertal females with low-weight AN/atypical AN, higher levels of ghrelin are associated with lower FA-t in the fornix. This relationship is not evident in the early to mid stages of puberty in AN/atypical AN or in HC, and may reflect a lack of possible neuroprotective effects of ghrelin in late-post puberty only. Understanding the effects of ghrelin on WM microstructure longitudinally and following recovery from AN/Atypical AN and how this differs across pubertal stages will be an important next step. These findings could ultimately inform treatment staging and aid in diagnosis and detection of AN/atypical AN.
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