Serotonin transporter binding after recovery from eating disorders

• DOI: 10.1007/s00213-007-0896-7
• Publication Date: 2007-08-09T20:53:43Z
• Authors: Ursula F. Bailer; Guido K. Frank; Shannan E. Henry; Julie C. Price; Carolyn C. Meltzer; Carl Becker; Scott K. Ziolko; Chester A. Mathis; Angela Wagner; Nicole C. Barbari...; Karen Putnam; Walter H. Kaye
• Keywords: Binding potential; Dorsal raphe nucleus; Raphe nuclei; Anorexia nervosa

Several lines of evidence suggest that altered serotonin (5-HT) function persists after recovery from anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN).We compared 11 subjects who recovered (>1 year normal weight, regular menstrual cycles, no binging or purging) from restricting-type AN (REC RAN), 7 who recovered from bulimia-type AN (REC BAN), 9 who recovered from BN (REC BN), and 10 healthy control women (CW).Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with [11C]McN5652 was used to assess the 5-HT transporter (5-HTT). For [11C]McN5652, distribution volume (DV) values were determined using a two-compartment, three-parameter tracer kinetic model, and specific binding was assessed using the binding potential (BP, BP=DVregion of interest/DVcerebellum-1).After correction for multiple comparisons, the four groups showed significant (p<0.05) differences for [11C]McN5652 BP values for the dorsal raphe and antero-ventral striatum (AVS). Post-hoc analysis revealed that REC RAN had significantly increased [11C]McN5652 BP compared to REC BAN in these regions.Divergent 5-HTT activity in subtypes of eating disorder subjects may provide important insights as to why these groups have differences in affective regulation and impulse control.