Eating disorders are frequently seen as psychological or societaldiseases, but do they have an underlying biological cause? A new studyshows that the levels of a brain protein differ between healthy andanorexic women.
Anorexia is a serious and occasionally fatal eating disorder most commonlyaffecting women. Scientists do not yet understand the physical causes ofanorexia, though some studies suggest a link to low levels of a brainprotein called BDNF. Now, a study recommended by Cynthia Bulik, a memberof Faculty of 1000 Medicine and leading expert in the field of psychiatryand eating disorders, shows that BDNF levels are higher in women who haverecovered from anorexia. This suggests that low BDNF levels may bereversible.
Researchers at Chiba University in Japan found that anorexic women hadlower levels of BDNF in their blood than healthy women or those who hadrecovered from anorexia. Women with low BDNF also had the lowestself-image, suffered from anxiety and depression, and performed poorly oncertain tests of cognitive ability.
Further study is needed to determine what role BDNF plays in anorexia, andif it can be used to predict the risk of developing it, but Bulikforecasts that "...BDNF may emerge as a useful biomarker of [anorexia] andof recovery from [anorexia]."