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Dopaminergic regulation in anorexia nervosa
Author(s) -
Halmi Katherine A.,
Owen William P.,
Lasley Elizabeth,
Stokes Peter
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
international journal of eating disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.785
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1098-108X
pISSN - 0276-3478
DOI - 10.1002/1098-108x(198322)2:4<129::aid-eat2260020420>3.0.co;2-#
Subject(s) - anorexia nervosa , dopaminergic , psychology , neuroscience , medicine , psychiatry , eating disorders , dopamine
An endocrine study that showed a lack of response of growth hormone to L‐DOPA in weight‐restored anorectics indicated that dopaminergk regulation may be impaired in anorexia nervosa. We studied another indirect as‐ sessment of dopaminergk activity by measuring the prolactin response to the dopamine antagonist, chlorpromazine, in six female anorectic normal‐ weight, recently recovered patients. Two of these patients had no response to chlorpromazine, another three patients had a minimal response, and only one patient had a normal prolactin response to chlorpromazine. Our findings suggest that anorexia nervosa patients have a defect in the negative feedback system in dopamine synthesis, such as an impairment at the dopamine post‐synaptic receptor site.