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Mammillary body volume abnormalities in anorexia nervosa
Sahib S Khalsa1,2, Rajesh Kumar3,4, Vandan Patel5
1Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 74136. skhalsa@laureateinstitute.org.
The International Journal of Eating Disorders
|July 15, 2016
Summary
Mammillary body (MB) volume is reduced in individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) during underweight states but increases with weight restoration. Fornix area may also serve as a biomarker for weight restoration in AN patients.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Eating Disorders
- Neurology
Background:
- Wernicke's Encephalopathy (WE) in anorexia nervosa (AN) is linked to thiamine deficiency and mammillary body (MB) injury.
- Systematic studies investigating MB morphology in AN are lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate MB morphology in underweight and weight-restored individuals with AN.
- To determine if MB volume and fornix area can serve as biomarkers for acute weight loss and restoration in AN.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of T1-weighted 3 Tesla MRI scans.
- Manual tracing of MB volume and fornix area by a blinded expert rater.
- Cross-sectional study comparing 12 underweight AN, 20 weight-restored AN, and 30 healthy controls.
Main Results:
- Significantly smaller MB volumes were observed in the underweight AN group.
- Weight-restored AN group showed significantly larger MB volumes.
- The right fornix was significantly smaller in the weight-restored AN group.
Conclusions:
- MB volume and fornix area may serve as potential biomarkers for acute weight loss and restoration in AN.
- Prospective studies are warranted to confirm these findings and explore correlations with cognition and thiamine levels.
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