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Serotonin transporter binding after recovery from eating disorders

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Abstract

Rationale

Several lines of evidence suggest that altered serotonin (5-HT) function persists after recovery from anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN).

Objectives

We compared 11 subjects who recovered (>1 year normal weight, regular menstrual cycles, no bingeing or purging) from restricting-type AN (REC RAN), 7 who recovered from bulimia-type AN (REC BAN), 9 who recovered from BN (REC BN), and 10 healthy control women (CW).

Materials and methods

Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with [11C]McN5652 was used to assess the 5-HT transporter (5-HTT). For [11C]McN5652, distribution volume (DV) values were determined using a two-compartment, three-parameter tracer kinetic model, and specific binding was assessed using the binding potential (BP, BP = DVregion of interest/DVcerebellum − 1).

Results

After correction for multiple comparisons, the four groups showed significant (p < 0.05) differences for [11C]McN5652 BP values for the dorsal raphe and antero-ventral striatum (AVS). Post-hoc analysis revealed that REC RAN had significantly increased [11C]McN5652 BP compared to REC BAN in these regions.

Conclusions

Divergent 5-HTT activity in subtypes of eating disorder subjects may provide important insights as to why these groups have differences in affective regulation and impulse control.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are indebted to the participating individuals for their contribution of time and effort in support of this study. We would like to thank W. Gordon Frankle for review of this manuscript, Eva Gerardi and Katherine Plotnicov for editorial assistance, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center PET Facility staff for their invaluable contribution to this study. This study was supported by grants from National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) MH46001, MH42984, K05-MD01894, NIMH Training Grant T32-MH18399, and the Price Foundation. U.F.B. was funded by an Erwin-Schrödinger-Fellowship of the Austrian Science Fund (nos. J 2188 and J 2359-B02).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh, Iroquois Building, Suite 600, 3811 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Ursula F. Bailer, Guido K. Frank, Shannan E. Henry, Carolyn C. Meltzer, Angela Wagner & Walter H. Kaye

  2. Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, 8950 Villa La Jolla Drive, Suite C207, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA

    Walter H. Kaye

  3. Department of Biological Psychiatry, University Hospital of Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Ursula F. Bailer

  4. Department of Radiology, Presbyterian University Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Julie C. Price, Carolyn C. Meltzer, Carl Becker, Scott K. Ziolko & Chester A. Mathis

  5. Departments of Radiology and Neurology, Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Carolyn C. Meltzer

  6. School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Carolyn C. Meltzer & Walter H. Kaye

  7. Laboratory for Developmental Brain Research, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, The Children’s Hospital, 1056 E. 19th Avenue, Denver, CO, 80218, USA

    Guido K. Frank

  8. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, J.W. Goethe University of Frankfurt/Main, Frankfurt/Main, Germany

    Angela Wagner

  9. New York State Psychiatric Institute, Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    Nicole C. Barbarich-Marsteller

  10. Department of Environmental Health, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Cincinnati School of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Karen Putnam

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  1. Ursula F. Bailer
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  2. Guido K. Frank
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  7. Scott K. Ziolko
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  8. Chester A. Mathis
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  9. Angela Wagner
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  12. Walter H. Kaye
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Correspondence to Walter H. Kaye.

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Bailer, U.F., Frank, G.K., Henry, S.E. et al. Serotonin transporter binding after recovery from eating disorders. Psychopharmacology 195, 315–324 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-007-0896-7

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