Am J Psychiatry 1992; 149:1506-1513
Copyright © 1992 by American Psychiatric Association
Regional cerebral glucose metabolism in bulimia nervosa [published erratum appears in Am J Psychiatry 1993 Jan;150(1):174]
PJ Andreason, M Altemus, AJ Zametkin, AC King, J Lucinio and RM Cohen
Section on Clinical Brain Imaging, NIMH, Bethesda, MD 20892.
OBJECTIVE: The authors' purpose in this study was to further delineate the
character of cerebral metabolism in bulimia nervosa and to determine if
functional links could be made between regional cerebral metabolism and the
symptoms of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and bulimia nervosa.
METHOD: Regional cerebral glucose metabolism was measured by using positron
emission tomography in 11 inpatients with bulimia nervosa and 18 normal
comparison subjects matched in sex (all were women), age, and educational
level. The bulimic patients were also tested for symptoms of major
depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. RESULTS: The patients with
bulimia showed a correlation between lower left anterolateral prefrontal
regional cerebral glucose metabolism and greater depressive symptoms.
However, the orbitofrontal regional cerebral glucose metabolism of patients
with bulimia was not greater than that of comparison subjects, nor was
higher orbitofrontal metabolism correlated with greater
obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: These findings lead to
the conclusion that left anterior lateral prefrontal cortex hypometabolism
varies with the depressive symptoms observed in bulimia but that temporal
lobe hypermetabolism and asymmetries appear to be independent of the mood
state.
