Endocrine Abstracts

Anorexia nervosa is a common psychiatric disease, with a prevalence of 1–2% of college-aged women, characterized by chronic starvation. Nutritional deprivation is complicated by serious and multi-axis endocrine dysregulation. This includes abnormalities in GnRH secretion resulting in hypothalamic amenorrhea, with resultant estrogen and androgen deficiency, which is usually but not always reversible with weight and psychiatric recovery. GH resistance at the level of the liver, resulting in low serum IGF1 levels and, through feedback, elevated GH production is also characteristic of anorexia nervosa. It has long been known that anorexia nervosa is also characterized by hypercortisolemia in a subset of patients, and more recently, abnormalities in appetite-regulating and enteric peptide levels have been demonstrated. Consequences of endocrine dysfunction in anorexia nervosa include severe bone loss, which is observed in the majority of such women, despite young age.