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Updated: Jul 8, 2026

Assessing Activity-based Anorexia in Mice
Published on: May 14, 2018
Low insulin-like growth factor I and leukopenia in anorexia nervosa
Nicoletta Polli1, Massimo Scacchi, Francesca Pecori Giraldi
1Department of Medical Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
Objective:
Considering that leukopenia and anemia are commonly observed in anorexia nervosa (AN) and that growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) markedly influence the activation, growth and survival of hemopoietic cells, we sought for possible relationships between hematologic parameters and the GH-IGF-I axis in a group of patients with AN.
Method:
Twenty patients were studied. Leukocyte and erythrocyte counts, as well as baseline serum GH levels and IGF-I standard deviation score (SDS) values, were determined in each participant and correlations between parameters were searched.
Results:
Leukocyte and erythrocyte counts, as well as IGF-I SDS values, were significantly lower, conversely GH was significantly higher in AN patients than in normal weight participants. In patients, IGF-I SDS values were positively correlated with leukocyte count and BMI, whereas no correlation was found between IGF-I SDS and hemoglobin or erythrocytes.
Conclusion:
The demonstration of a positive correlation between leukocyte number and circulating IGF-I in AN suggests a likely pathogenetic role of IGF-I deficiency in this hematologic abnormality.
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