Appetite sensations and hormonal secretion in patients with adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma

Patients with adamantinomatous craniopharyngiomas (aCP) often present hypothalamic involvement (HI) either by the tumor or therapeutic interventions, resulting in hypothalamic obesity (HyOb). This study aims to investigate how appetite sensations and orexigenic and anorexigenic hormones response may contribute to the HyOb pathogenesis in these subjects.

Fifteen patients with aCP submitted to surgical resection (31,1 ± 12 years; 9 women) and 15 controls (31 ± 11,7 years) paired by sex, age and BMI were included in this cross-sectional study. Leptin and adiponectin were measured in basal conditions (T0'). Glucose, insulin, ghrelin, GLP-1, and PYY levels were assessed at T0', T30', T60', T120', and T180' minutes after a standard meal test. Sensations of hunger, fullness and prospective food consumption were measured using a visual analogic scale at the same time points.

Intergroup differences on appetite sensations and biochemical variables were not significant between patients with aCP and controls. Intragroup analyses revealed distinct post-meal dynamics: compared to matching controls, patients with aCP showed earlier increase in hunger, and decrease in fullness (both P = 0.005) and prospective food consumption (P = 0.06) ratings from T0' to T180'. There was a tendency towards higher fasting leptin concentrations (P = 0.06), while adiponectinemia was significantly lower (P = 0.002). Insulin and HOMA-IR (both P < 0.01) were higher at T180', whereas the anorexigenic hormones GLP-1 (P = 0.03) and PYY (P = 0.02) were higher at T120'. PYY and ghrelin showed earlier postprandial rise and fall, respectively, in patients with aCP.

Although intergroup differences were limited, our intragroup analyses revealed reduced satiety persistence and earlier appetite rebound, particularly in patients with HyOb and severe HI, providing new insights into the complex, multifactorial pathophysiology of HyOb associated with aCP.