Emotional eating and in vivo norepinephrine transporter availability in obesity: A [ C]MRB PET pilot study.

Objective: Emotional eating (EE) has been linked to norepinephrine dysfunction. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the relationship between EE and norepinephrine transporter (NET) availability.

Method: Ten severely obese individuals (body mass index (BMI) 42.4 ± 3.7 kg/m ) and ten non-obese, healthy controls (BMI 23.9 ± 2.5 kg/m ) matched for age and sex were studied using (S,S)-[ C]-O-methylreboxetine ([ C]MRB) positron emission tomography (PET). Kinetic modeling of regional tissue time activity curves was performed using multilinear reference tissue model 2 (MRTM2, with the occipital cortex as a reference region) to estimate binding potential based on individual PET-MR coregistration. To test for associations of EE and NET availability, participants completed the EE subscale of the Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire before scanning.

Results: Obese individuals and non-obese, healthy controls did not significantly differ regarding EE scores and regional NET availability. For obese individuals only, correlative data analyses pointed to a sinoidal distribution pattern as a higher degree of EE related to lower NET availability in the locus coeruleus and to higher NET availability in the left thalamus.

Discussion: These results indicate that central in vivo NET availability is altered in EE of individuals with obesity. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.(Int J Eat Disord 2017; 50:152-156).