Neural and glial damage markers in women after long-term weight-recovery from anorexia nervosa

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Abstract

Purpose: The acute state of anorexia nervosa (AN) is accompanied by increased peripheral concentrations of brain-derived damage markers indicative of ongoing neural and glial damage processes. Although these findings correspond with well-documented structural brain changes in the disorder, it remains unclear whether abnormal levels of brain-derived damage markers persist after long-term weight-recovery from AN. Methods: To address this question, we used single-molecule array (Simoa) technology to measure serum levels of neurofilament light (NF-L), tau protein and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in a group of 55 long-term weight-recovered women with a history of AN (recAN) and 55 age-matched healthy controls. Strict exclusion criteria allowed us to control for confounds present in previous studies including most importantly neurological conditions. Results: We found not only no group differences but also statistical evidence for equal damage marker levels between groups using Bayesian hypothesis testing. Conclusion: These results provide evidence for the absence of neuronal and glial damage processes after long-term weight-recovery from AN. Together, our findings are indicative of complete normalization following long-term weight restoration provide hope that recovery from AN halts neuronal damage processes and support the need to test potential candidates for therapeutic interventions including pharmacological neuroprotection.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number105576
JournalPsychoneuroendocrinology
Volume135
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2021
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85118841080
ORCID /0000-0002-2864-5578/work/142233450
ORCID /0000-0003-2132-4445/work/142236315
ORCID /0000-0002-6809-3480/work/142239392
ORCID /0000-0002-6152-5834/work/142241976
ORCID /0000-0001-8333-867X/work/142251377

Keywords