Short-term metreleptin treatment of patients with anorexia nervosa: rapid on-set of beneficial cognitive, emotional, and behavioral effects

• DOI: 10.1038/s41398-020-00977-1
• Publication Date: 2020-08-27T19:04:04Z
• Authors: Gabriella Milos; Jochen Antel; Lisa-Katrin Kaufmann; Nikolaus Barth; Antonia Koller; Susanne Tan; Urban Wiesing; Anke Hinney; Lars Libuda; Martin Wabitsch; Roland von Känel; Johannes Hebebrand
• Keywords: Anorexia nervosa; Psychopharmacology

To examine the hypothesis that normalization of low circulating leptin levels in patients with anorexia nervosa ameliorates hyperactivity, three seriously ill females hyperactivity were treated off-label metreleptin (recombinant human leptin) for up to 14 days. Drive activity, repetitive thoughts food, inner restlessness, and weight phobia decreased two patients. Surprisingly, depression improved rapidly all No serious adverse events occurred. Due obvious limitations uncontrolled case series, placebo-controlled clinical trials are mandatory confirm observed rapid onset beneficial effects. Our findings suggest an important role hypoleptinemia mental behavioral phenotype nervosa.