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Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Using the Activity-based Anorexia Rodent Model to Study the Neurobiological Basis of Anorexia Nervosa
Published on: October 22, 2015
Anorexia and aging: pathophysiology
1Division of Geriatric Medicine, St. Louis University Medical School, Missouri, USA.
Abstract:
Aging results in a dysregulation of the ability to regulate food intake. In general, this presents as a decrease in food intake accompanied by early satiation. The early satiation appears to be predominantly due to a decrease in adaptive relaxation of the fundus of the stomach resulting in early antral filling. Increased levels and effectiveness of cholecystokinin also play a role in the anorexia of aging. Leptin levels increase with aging in males but not in females. With regard to the central feeding drive, both the opioid and neuropeptide Y effects appear to decline with age. This physiologic anorexia of aging increases the risk for older persons to develop severe anorexia and weight loss when disease occurs.
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