Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T17:20:22.322Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Psychobiology of anorexia nervosa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Detlev W. Ploog  and
Karl M. Pirke
Detlev W. Ploog*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry, Munich, FRG
Karl M. Pirke
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry, Munich, FRG
*
1Address for correspondence: Professor Dr. Detlev Ploog, Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry, Kraepelinstrasse 10, 8000 Munich 40, FRG.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Synopsis

The psychobiology of anorexia nervosa is described and explained under four headings; (1) the psychopathology as related to the motivation for fasting; (2) metabolic and somatic consequences of starvation, including brain morphology; (3) endocrine abnormalities in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and gonadal axis; and (4) the hunger drive and its possible perversions in terms of aspects of neuroethology and the reward system in the brain.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 17 , Issue 4 , November 1987 , pp. 843 - 859
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abraham, S. F., Beumont, P. J. V. & Cobbin, D. M. (1981). Catecholamine metabolism and body weight in anorexia nervosa. British Journal of Psychiatry 138, 244–247.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berger, M., Doerr, P, Lund, R., Bronisch, T. & von Zerssen, D. (1982). Neuroendocrinological and neurophysiological studies in major depressive disorders: are there biological markers for the endogenous subtype? Biological Psychiatry 17, 1217–1242.Google ScholarPubMed
Berger, M., Pirke, K. M., Doerr, P.Krieg, J. C. & von Zerssen, D. (1984). The limited utility of the dexamethasone suppression test for the diagnostic process in psychiatry. British Journal of Psychiatry 145, 372–382.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beumont, P. J. V. & Russell, J. (1982). Anorexia nervosa. In Handbook of Psychiatry and Endocrinology (ed. Beumont, P. J. V. and Burrows, A.), pp. 63–96. Elsevier: Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Beumont, P. J. V., George, G. C. W, Pimstone, B. L. & Vinik, A. I (1976). Body weight and the pituitary response to hypothalamic releasing hormones in patients with anorexia nervosa. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolsim 43, 487–496.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biederman, J., Herzog, D. B., Rivinus, T. M., Ferber, R. A., Harper, G. P., Orsulak, P. J., Harmatz, J. S. & Schildkraut, J. J. (1984). Urinary MHPG in anorexia nervosa patients with and without a concomitant major depressive disorder. Journal of Psychiatric Research 18, 149–160.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boyar, R. M., Katz, J., Finkelstein, J. W., Kapen, S., Weiner, H., Weitzman, E. D & Hellman, L. (1974). Anorexia nervosa: immaturity of the 24-hour luteinizing hormone secretory pattern. New England Journal of Medicine 291, 861–865.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boyar, R. M., Hellman, L., Raffwarg, H. P., Katz, J., Zumoff, B., O'Connor, J., Bradlow, H. L. & Fukushima, D. K. (1977). Cortisol secretion and metabolism in anorexia nervosa. New England Journal of Medicine 296, 190–193.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coppen, A. J., Gupta, R. K., Eccleston, E. G., Wood, K. M., Wakeling, A. & De Sousa, V. F. (1976). Plasma-tryptophan in anorexia nervosa. Lancet i, 961.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crisp, A. H. (1980). Anorexia Nervosa: Let Me Be. Academic Press: London.Google Scholar
Darby, P., VanLoon, G., Garfinkel, P. E., Brown, G. M. & Kirwan, P. (1980). LH growth hormone, prolactin and catecholamine responses to LHRF and bromocryptine in anorexia nervosa. Presented at the American Psychosomatic Society, New York.Google Scholar
Doerr, P., Fichter, M., Pirke, K. M. & Lund, R. (1980). Relationship between weight gain and hypothalamic pituitary adrenal function in patients with anorexia nervosa. Journal of Steroid Biochemistry 13, 529–537.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ebert, M. H., Kaye, W. K. & Gold, P. W. (1984). Neurotransmitter metabolism in anorexia nervosa. In The Psychobiology of Anorexia Nervosa (ed. Pirke, K. M. and Ploog, D.), pp. 58–72. Springer: Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fichter, M M. (1985). Magersucht und Bulimia. Springer: Berlin.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fichter, M. M. & Pirke, K. M. (1984). Hypothalamic pituitary function in starving healthy subjects. In The Psychobiology of Anorexia Nervosa (ed. Pirke, K. M. and Ploog, D.), pp. 124–135. Springer: Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fohlin, L. (1977). Body composition, cardiovascular and renal function in adolescent patients with anorexia nervosa. Acta Paediatrica Scandinavica (Suppl.) 268, 1–20.Google Scholar
Frisch, R. E. (1977). Food intake, fatness and reproductive ability. In Anorexia Nervosa (ed. Vigersky, R. A.), pp. 149–162. Raven Press: New York.Google Scholar
Frisch, R. E. & Revelle, R. (1970). Height and weight at menarche and a hypothesis of critical body weights and adolescent events. Science 169, 397–398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garfinkel, P. E. & Garner, D. M. (1982). Anorexia Nervosa – A Multidimensional Perspective. Brunner/Mazel: New YorkGoogle Scholar
Garfinkel, P. E., Garner, D. M. & Rodin, G. (1986). Anorexia nervosa, Bulimie. In Psychialrie der Gegenwart, Bd. 1 (Hrsg. K. P. Kisker, H. Lauter, J.-E. Meyer, C. Müller, & E. Strömgren), pp. 103–124. Springer/3. Aufl.: Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gerlinghoff, M. (1985). Magersüchtig. Piper: München.Google Scholar
Gerner, R. H. & Gwirtsman, H. E. (1981). Abnormalities of dexamethasone suppression test and urinary MHPG in anorexia nervosa. American Journal of Psychiatry 138, 650–653.Google ScholarPubMed
Gross, H. A., Lake, C. R., Ebert, M. H., Ziegler, M. G. & Kopin, I. J. (1979). Catecholamine metabolism in primary anorexia nervosa. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 49, 805–809.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gull, W. (1873). Anorexia nervosa (apepsia hysterica). British Medical Journal ii, 527.Google Scholar
Gwirtsman, H. E., Roy-Byrne, P., Yager, J. & Garner, R. H. (1983). Neuroendocrine abnormalities in bulimia. American Journal of Psychiatry 140, 559–563.Google ScholarPubMed
Halmi, K. A., Dekirmenijan, H., Davis, J. M, Casper, R. & Goldberg, S. (1978). Catecholamine metabolism in anorexia nervosa. Archives of General Psychiatry 35, 458–460.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Katz, J. L., Boyar, R., Raffwarg, H., Hellman, L. & Weiner, H. (1978). Weight and circadian luteinizing hormone secretory pattern in anorexia nervosa. Psychosomatic Medicine 40, 549.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaye, W. H., Ebert, M. H., Gwirtsman, H. E. & Weiss, S. R. (1984 a). Differences in brain serotonergic metabolism between nonbulimic and bulimic patients with anorexia nervosa. American Journal of Psychiatry 141, 1598–1601.Google ScholarPubMed
Kaye, W. H., Ebert, M. H., Raleigh, M. & Lake, R. (1984 b). Abnormalities in CNS monoamine metabolism in anorexia nervosa. Archives of General Psychiatry 14, 350–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaye, W. H., Jimerson, D. C., Lake, C. R. & Ebert, M. H. (1985). Altered norepinephrine metabolism following long term weight recovery in patients with anorexia nervosa. Psychiatry Research 14, 333–342.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krieg, J. C., Backmund, H. & Pirke, K. M. (1986). Endocrine, metabolic and brain morphological abnormalities in patients with eating disorders. International Journal of Eating Disorders 5, 999–1005.3.0.CO;2-A>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krieg, J.-C., Backmund, H. & Pirke, K.-M. (1987). Cranial computed tomography findings in bulimia. Acta Psychiatrca Scandinavica 75, 144–149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Landsberg, L. & Young, J. B. (1978). Fasting, feeding and regulation of the sympathetic nervous system. New England Journal of Medicine 29, 1295–1301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laségue, E. C. (1873). De l'anorexie hystérique. Archives Générales de Médecine 21, 385.Google Scholar
Lucas, A. R. (1981). Towards the understanding of anorexia nervosa as a disease entity. Mayo Clinic Proceedings 56, 254–264.Google Scholar
Morton, R. (1691/1689). Phthisiologia seu exercitationes de phthisi. Frankfurt/Leipzig; Erstauflage London.Google Scholar
Nudel, D. B., Gootman, N., Nussbaum, M. P. & Shenker, I. R. (1984). Altered exercise performance and abnormal sympathetic responses to exercise in patients with anorexia nervosa. Journal of Pediatrics 105, 34–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olds, J. (1977). Drives and Reinforcements. Behavioural Studies of Hypothalamic Functions. Raven Press: New York.Google Scholar
Pirke, K. M. & Ploog, D. (eds.) (1984). The Psychobiology of Anorexia Nervosa. Springer: Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pirke, K. M. & Ploog, D. (1986). Psychobiology of anorexia nervosa. In Nutrition and the Brain, Vol. 7 (ed. Wurtman, R. J. & Wurtman, J. J.), pp. 167–198. Raven Press: New York.Google Scholar
Pirke, K. M. & Spyra, B. (1982). Catecholamine turnover in the brain and the regulation of luteinizing hormone and corticosterone in starved male rats. Acta Endocrinologica 100, 168–176.Google ScholarPubMed
Pirke, K. M., Fichter, M. M., Lund, R. & Doerr, P. (1979). Twenty-four hour sleep-wake pattern of plasma LH in patients with anorexia nervosa. Acta Endocrinologica 92, 193–204.Google ScholarPubMed
Pirke, K. M., Schweiger, U., Lemmel, W., Krieg, J. Ch. & Berger, M. (1985). The influence of dieting on the menstrual cycle of healthy young women. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 60, 1174–1179.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pirke, K. M., Fichter, M. M., Schweiger, U., Fruth, C., Streitmatter, A. & Wolfram, G. (1987). Gonadotropin secretion pattern in bulimia nervosa. International Journal of Eating Behaviour (in the press).3.0.CO;2-D>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ploog, D. (1973). Comments on instinctive behaviour, neural systems and reinforcement mechanisms. In Psychic Dependence (ed. Goldberg, L. & Hoffmeister, F.), pp. 51–55. Bayer-Symposium IV. Springer: Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ploog, D. (1981). Neuroethological aspects of anorexia nervosa. In Biological Psychiatry 1981 (ed. Perris, C., Struwe, G. and Jansson, B.), pp. 1027–1034. Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press: Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Ploog, D. (1985). Anorexia nervosa – an addiction. In Psychiatry, Vol. 2 (ed. Pichot, P., Berner, P., Wolf, R. and Thau, K.), pp. 717–720. Plenum Publishing Corporation: New York.Google Scholar
Riederer, P., Toifl, K. & Kruzik, P. (1982). Excretion of biogenic amine metabolites in anorexia nervosa. Clinica Chimica Acta 123, 27–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rolls, E. T. (1976). The neurophysiological basis of brain-stimulation reward. In Brain Stimulation Research (ed. Wauquier, A. and Rolls, E. T.), p. 65–87. North-Holland Publications: Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Rolls, E. T., Sanghera, M. K. & Roper-Hall, A. (1979). The latency of activation of neurones in the lateral hypothalamus and substantia innominata during feeding in the monkey. Brain Research 164, 121–135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roth, J. C., Kelch, R. P., Kaplan, S. L. & Grumbach, M. M. (1972). FSH and LH response to luteinizing hormone-releasing factor in prepubertal and pubertal children. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology 35, 926–930.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Russell, G. F. M. (1977). The present status of anorexia nervosa. Psychological Medicine 7, 363–367.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Russell, G. F. M. (1979). Bulimia nervosa. An ominous variant of anorexia nervosa. Psychological Medicine 9, 429–448.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schadewaldt, H. (1965). Medizingeschichtliche Betrachtungen zum Anorexie-Problem. In Anorexia Nervosa (Hrsg. J.-E. Meyer & H. Feldmann), pp. 1–14. Thieme: Stuttgart.Google Scholar
Schweiger, U., Warnhoff, M. & Pirke, K. M. (1985). Noradrenergic turnover in the hypothalamus of adult male rats: alteration of circadian pattern by semistarvation. Journal of Neurochemistry 45, 706–709.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slade, R. (1984). The Anorexia Nervosa Reference Book. Harper & Row: London.Google Scholar
Szmukler, G. I. & Tantam, D. (1984). Anorexia nervosa: starvation dependence. British Journal of Medical Psychology 57, 303–310.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Travaglini, P., Beck-Peccoz, P., Ferrari, C., Ambrosi, B., Paracchi, A., Severgnini, A., Spade, A. & Faglia, G. (1976). Some aspects of hypothalamic-pituitary function in patients with anorexia nervosa. Acta Endocrinology 81, 252–262.Google ScholarPubMed
Valenstein, E. S. (1970). Stability and plasticity of motivational systems. In The Neurosciences: Second Study Program (ed. Schmitt, F. O.), pp. 207–217. Rockefeller University Press: New York.Google Scholar
Vigerskyk, R. A., Andersen, A. E., Thompson, R. H. & Loriaux, D. L. (1977). Hypothalamic dysfunction in secondary amenorrhea associated with simple weight loss. New England Journal of Medicine 297, 1141–1145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wakeling, A., DeSouza, V A., Gore, M. B. R., Sabur, M., Longstone, D. & Boss, A. M. B. (1979). Amenorrhea, body weight and serum hormone concentration, with particular reference to prolactin and thyroid hormones in anorexia nervosa. Psychological Medicine 9, 265–272.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walsh, B. T., Katz, J. K., Levin, J., Kream, J., Fukushima, D. K., Hellman, L. D., Weiner, H. & Zumoff, B. (1978). Adrenal activity in anorexia nervosa. Psychosomatic Medicine 40, 499.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Warren, M. P. & Van de Wiele, R. L. (1973). Clinical and metabolic features of anorexia nervosa. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 117, 435–449.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wurtman, R. J. & Wurtman, J. J. (1984). Nutritional control of central neurotransmitters. In The Psychobiology of Anorexia Nervosa (ed. Pirke, K. M. and Ploog, D.), pp. 4–11. Springer: Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yap, S. H., Hafkenscheid, J. C. M. & van Tongeren, J. H. M. (1975). Important role of tryptophan on albumin synthesis in patients suffering from anorexia nervosa and hypoalbuminemia. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 28, 1356–1363.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed