Specific adipocytokines profiles in patients with hyperactive and/or binge/purge form of anorexia nervosa.

Objective: The aim of our study was to determine whether eating behaviors and/or physical activity level may explain contradicting results in adipocytokines levels in anorexia nervosa (AN).

Subjects/methods: Fasting levels of circulating adipocytokines (adiponectin, resistin and leptin), insulin, glucose, C-reactive protein, cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin (IL)-1beta), body composition and resting energy expenditure were measured in 24 women AN patients and 14 women controls. These parameters were compared according to AN subtypes: 15 patients with restrictive (R-AN) form versus 9 patients with binge/purge (BP-AN) form; 15 patients with hyperactive (H-AN) form versus 9 patients with nonhyperactive (NH-AN) form.

Results: BP-AN patients had significantly higher serum adiponectin levels compared with R-AN patients (P<0.05), and H-AN patients had higher serum leptin and lower serum resistin levels compared with NH-AN patients (P<0.05 for both).

Conclusions: Our study shows specific adipocytokines profiles depending on the subtype of AN: restrictive versus binge/purge and hyperactive versus Nonhyperactive forms. We suggest that these biological signatures could interfere with the outcome of the disease.