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Updated: Jul 1, 2025

A Computer-Based Platform for Aiding Clinicians in Eating Disorder Analysis and Diagnosis
Published on: May 10, 2022
Dissecting the biology of feeding and eating disorders
Laura M Huckins1, Kristen Brennand2, Cynthia M Bulik3
1Department of Psychiatry, Division of Molecular Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
Abstract:
Feeding and eating disorders (FEDs) are heterogenous and characterized by varying patterns of dysregulated eating and weight. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) are clarifying their underlying biology and their genetic relationship to other psychiatric and metabolic/anthropometric traits. Genetic research on anorexia nervosa (AN) has identified eight significant loci and uncovered genetic correlations implicating both psychiatric and metabolic/anthropometric risk factors. Careful explication of these metabolic contributors may be key to developing effective and enduring treatments for devastating, life-altering, and frequently lethal illnesses. We discuss clinical phenomenology, genomics, phenomics, intestinal microbiota, and functional genomics and propose a path that translates variants to genes, genes to pathways, and pathways to metabolic outcomes to advance the science and eventually treatment of FEDs.
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