Association of Leptin Gene DNA Methylation With Diagnosis and Treatment Outcome of Anorexia Nervosa.

Epigenetic alterations are increasingly implicated in the pathophysiology of anorexia nervosa (AN) but are as yet poorly understood. We investigated possible associations between the leptin gene () and the leptin receptor gene () DNA promoter methylation and (1) a diagnosis of AN and (2) outcome after a 10 months psychotherapeutic outpatient treatment. 129 (: = 135) patients with AN were investigated during the large scale psychotherapeutic Anorexia Nervosa Treatment Outpatient Study (ANTOP) trial, compared to 117 (: = 119) age and height matched, normal-weight healthy controls.