[Role of leptin in eating disorders--current concept]

Eating disorders constitute a dynamically developing group of diseases, in which only some have well-established diagnostic criteria, e.g. anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. Many symptoms of eating disorders are hard to be qualified to any known disorder from that group, and quantity and diversity of symptoms connected to eating grow systematically. It makes the work of clinicians and psychotherapists more difficult, as well as hampers communication between specialists. It is also a challenge for scientists to create new qualifications based on known and theoretical pathomechanisms connected to disruptions in food intake regulation.