Exploring the role of beta-endorphin in activity-based anorexia in mice.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) remains one of the most lethal mental health disorders and is poorly understood from a neurobiological perspective. The most widely used animal model of AN is activity-based anorexia (ABA) where scheduled food presentation leads to a spontaneous maladaptive increase in running-wheel activity and rapid weight loss in rodents, recapitulating specific aspects of AN. Research using the ABA paradigm to probe the role of hedonic and homeostatic circuits has indicated that the hypothalamic proopiomelanocortin (POMC) system may play a role in both the increased activity and reduced food intake observed.