Fatty Acids and Their Lipogenic Enzymes in Anorexia Nervosa Clinical Subtypes

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 25; no. 10; p. 5516
• Main Authors: Nguyen, Nhien, Woodside, D Blake, Lam, Eileen, Quehenberger, Oswald, German, J Bruce, Shih, Pei-An Betty
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 18-05-2024
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Anorexia; Anorexia nervosa; Anorexia Nervosa - metabolism; Anxiety; Body mass index; Case-Control Studies; desaturases; Eating behavior; Eating disorders; Eicosapentaenoic Acid - metabolism; elongases; Enzymes; Fatty Acid Desaturases - metabolism; Fatty Acid Elongases - metabolism; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids - metabolism; Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; Female; Food; Food habits; Health aspects; Humans; Lauric Acids - metabolism; Lipids; Lipogenesis; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Mental disorders; Metabolism; Mortality; Patient compliance; Psychopathology; Weight loss; Young Adult; California; elongases; fatty acids; anorexia nervosa; desaturases
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms25105516

Disordered eating behavior differs between the restricting subtype (AN-R) and the binging and purging subtype (AN-BP) of anorexia nervosa (AN). Yet, little is known about how these differences impact fatty acid (FA) dysregulation in AN. To address this question, we analyzed 26 FAs and 7 FA lipogenic enzymes (4 desaturases and 3 elongases) in 96 women: 25 AN-R, 25 AN-BP, and 46 healthy control women. Our goal was to assess subtype-specific patterns. Lauric acid was significantly higher in AN-BP than in AN-R at the fasting timepoint (
= 0.038) and displayed significantly different postprandial changes 2 h after eating. AN-R displayed significantly higher levels of n-3 alpha-linolenic acid, stearidonic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosapentaenoic acid, and n-6 linoleic acid and gamma-linolenic acid compared to controls. AN-BP showed elevated EPA and saturated lauric acid compared to controls. Higher EPA was associated with elevated anxiety in AN-R (
= 0.035) but was linked to lower anxiety in AN-BP (
= 0.043). These findings suggest distinct disordered eating behaviors in AN subtypes contribute to lipid dysregulation and eating disorder comorbidities. A personalized dietary intervention may improve lipid dysregulation and enhance treatment effectiveness for AN.