September 11, 2013

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online

According to the National Institutes of Health, almost 3.8 million Americans will suffer from anorexia at some point in their life. Thought to be primarily psychological in nature, anorexia nervosa may have a partial genetic cause according to a new report in Molecular Psychiatry.

These findings point in a direction that probably no one would have considered taking before, said study author Nicholas J. Schork, a professor at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI).

A condition that predominantly affects women and young girls, anorexia is marked by a severe eating restriction and emaciation. Individuals with anorexia may also see themselves as fat, express perfectionism, exhibit signs of anxiety or depression, and have obsessive tendencies, said Walter Kaye, a co-author on the study and professor at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

Scientists arent entirely sure how anorexia develops in a person, but many suspect cultural, stress, hormonal and social factors.

To explore a potential genetic factor for the condition, TSRI researchers, along with a team of international colleagues, embarked on the largest-ever genetic sequencing study of anorexia. The project was based on genetic data from over 1,200 individuals diagnosed with anorexia and almost 2,000 non-anorexic participants.

In an initial discovery phase of the study that included over 330 subjects, the researchers recorded the genetic variants that had already been associated to feeding behaviors or had been cited in previous anorexia studies. Out of the more than 150 genetic candidates, only a small group demonstrated a significant statistical linkage with anorexia in the study cohort.

One of the strongest initial candidates was the gene EPHX2, which is involved in the production of epoxide hydrolase 2 an enzyme recognized for regulating cholesterol metabolism.

When we saw that, we thought that we might be onto something, because nobody else had reported this gene as having a pronounced role in anorexia, said Schork.

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New Study Finds Anorexia Has A Genetic Link, At Least Partially

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