[Psychobiological aspects of anorexia nervosa]

In the long term anorexia nervosa has after toxicomania the second highest lethality of all psychiatric disorders. The genesis of this eating disorder may be found in a combination of biological, cultural, familial and intrapsychic factors. Long-term investigations have not only verified the seriousness of the prognosis of lethality but have also demonstrated that depressive illness, compulsive behaviour and addiction quite often supersede anorexia nervosa. It therefore seems justified to assume biological pathomechanisms as co-factors both in triggering the disease as well as in the chronification of this illness. Besides the discussion on a genetic disposition based on results of twin- and family research, psychobiological models of appetite and satiation behavior based on known neuropeptides and neurotransmitters are presented with regard to the development of anorexia nervosa.