Assessment of Serum Apelin Levels in Girls with Anorexia Nervosa

• Published in: The journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism Vol. 95; no. 6; pp. 2935 - 2941
• Main Authors: Ziora, Katarzyna, Oświęcimska, Joanna, Świętochowska, Elżbieta, Ziora, Dariusz, Ostrowska, Zofia, Stojewska, Małgorzata, Klimacka-Nawrot, Ewa, Dyduch, Antoni, Błońska-Fajfrowska, Barbara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD Endocrine Society 01-06-2010; Copyright by The Endocrine Society
• Subjects: Adipose Tissue - physiology; Adolescent; Anorexia Nervosa - blood; Apelin; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers - blood; Body Composition - physiology; Body Height - physiology; Body Mass Index; Body Weight - physiology; Child; Endocrinopathies; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Immunoenzyme Techniques; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins - blood; Medical sciences; Obesity - blood; Poland; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; Vertebrates: endocrinology; Human; Obesity; Nutrition; Nutrition disorder; Clinical biology; Female; Metabolic diseases; Anorexia nervosa; Eating disorder; Child; Endocrinology; Nutritional status
• ISSN: 0021-972X; 1945-7197
• DOI: 10.1210/jc.2009-1958

Context: Pilot studies in rats have suggested that apelin (APE) is involved in the control of appetite and food intake. APE is secreted in the organs involved in the control of hunger and satiety: the stomach, hypothalamus, and fat tissue. Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder that represents a good biological model of chronic fat tissue atrophy in humans. To date, there are no reports of APE expression in the fat tissue and its circulating concentrations in patients with AN.
Objective: Our objective was to assess serum APE concentrations in girls with AN.
Design, Participants, and Setting: APE-36 and APE-12 serum concentrations were evaluated in 87 Polish girls with restrictive AN, in 61 healthy (H) controls, 17 girls with no otherwise specified eating disorders (NOS), and 30 girls with simple obesity (OB).
Results: Mean serum APE-36 and APE-12 concentrations in patients with AN and NOS were significantly lower than in the H and OB groups. However, no differences between AN, H, and NOS groups were observed when APE concentrations were calculated per body mass index (BMI). In participants with normal BMI, serum APE-36 (r = 0.35) and APE-12 (r = 0.37) concentrations correlated positively with BMI.
Conclusions: We conclude that compared with H controls, serum APE-36 and APE-12 concentrations decreased as a result of fat tissue depletion in patients with AN. Conversely, obese adolescents had elevated APE-36 and APE-12 due to excessive fat mass as well as increased APE production in adipose tissue.
In patients with anorexia nervosa compared with healthy controls, serum APE-36 and APE-12 concentrations are decreased as a result from fat tissue depletion.