Time Course of Leptin in Patients with Anorexia Nervosa during Inpatient Treatment: Longitudinal Relationships to BMI and Psychological Factors

Leptin, a hormone secreted by adipose tissue, appears to play a major role in the homeostasis of body weight and psychobiological processes associated with anorexia nervosa (AN). However, there is scarce data on its exact influence on this disorder, in particular data over time.The present study addresses whether leptin changes during inpatient treatment play a role for treatment outcome and psychological factors in underweight AN patients.) were investigated.Leptin increased significantly with BMI in both groups of patients. For HSS patients, the increase of leptin in the first treatment phase did not predict later increases in BMI. Furthermore, the relationship of leptin and psychological factors was modulated by symptom severity. In HSS patients, higher leptin levels were associated with greater feelings of depression, anxiety, and stress whereas in LSS patients a higher leptin level showed the trend to be associated with lower psychological symptom burden.Our results suggest that leptin changes are differently associated with weight gain and psychological symptoms depending on the severity of starvation