Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147:882-886
Copyright © 1990 by American Psychiatric Association
CSF oxytocin in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: clinical and pathophysiologic considerations
MA Demitrack, MD Lesem, SJ Listwak, HA Brandt, DC Jimerson and PW Gold
Unit on Eating Disorders, NIMH, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Oxytocin is a hypothalamic neuropeptide with both centrally and
peripherally directed pathways. Data from experimental animals indicate
that oxytocin impairs consolidation of aversively conditioned behaviors and
is released after feeding or experimental gastric distension. The authors
report that the mean CSF oxytocin level of five underweight women with
restricting anorexia, but not 12 underweight bulimic anorexic women or 35
normal-weight women with bulimia nervosa, was significantly lower than the
level of 11 control subjects. Restricting anorexic patients' low CSF
oxytocin levels may reflect their persistently low food intake, and this
behavior may exacerbate their tendency for perseverative preoccupation with
adverse consequences of food intake.
