Lisa Paulukat1,2, Linda Frintrop2, Johanna Liesbrock1,2, Nicole Heussen3, Sonja Johann2, Cornelia Exner4, Martien J Kas5, Rene Tolba6, Joseph Neulen7, Kerstin Konrad1, Beate Herpertz-Dahlmann1, Cordian Beyer2, Jochen Seitz1. 1. a Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy , University Hospital Aachen, RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany ; 2. b Institute of Neuroanatomy , RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany ; 3. c Department of Medical Statistics , University Hospital Aachen, RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany ; 4. d Department of Animal Physiology , Philipps-University Marburg , Marburg , Germany ; 5. e Department of Translational Neuroscience, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus , University Medical Center Utrecht , Utrecht , the Netherlands ; 6. f Institute for Laboratory Animal Science and Experimental Surgery , University Hospital Aachen, RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany ; 7. g Department of Gynecological Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine , University Hospital, RWTH Aachen University , Aachen , Germany.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) suffer from neuropsychological deficits including memory impairments. Memory partially depends on 17β-oestradiol (E2), which is reduced in patients with AN. We assessed whether memory functions correlate with E2 plasma levels in the activity-based anorexia (ABA) rat model. METHODS: Nine 4-week-old female Wistar rats were sacrificed directly after weight loss of 20-25% (acute starvation), whereas 17 animals had additional 2-week weight-holding (chronic starvation). E2 serum levels and novel object recognition tasks were tested before and after starvation and compared with 21 normally fed controls. RESULTS: Starvation disrupted menstrual cycle and impaired memory function, which became statistically significant in the chronic state (oestrous cycle (P < 0.001), E2 levels (P = 0.011) and object recognition memory (P = 0.042) compared to controls). E2 reduction also correlated with the loss of memory in the chronic condition (r = 0.633, P = 0.020). CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that starvation reduces the E2 levels which are associated with memory deficits in ABA rats. These effects might explain reduced memory capacity in patients with AN as a consequence of E2 deficiency and the potentially limited effectiveness of psychotherapeutic interventions in the starved state. Future studies should examine whether E2 substitution could prevent cognitive deficits and aid in earlier readiness for therapy.
OBJECTIVES:Patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) suffer from neuropsychological deficits including memory impairments. Memory partially depends on 17β-oestradiol (E2), which is reduced in patients with AN. We assessed whether memory functions correlate with E2 plasma levels in the activity-based anorexia (ABA) rat model. METHODS: Nine 4-week-old female Wistar rats were sacrificed directly after weight loss of 20-25% (acute starvation), whereas 17 animals had additional 2-week weight-holding (chronic starvation). E2 serum levels and novel object recognition tasks were tested before and after starvation and compared with 21 normally fed controls. RESULTS: Starvation disrupted menstrual cycle and impaired memory function, which became statistically significant in the chronic state (oestrous cycle (P < 0.001), E2 levels (P = 0.011) and object recognition memory (P = 0.042) compared to controls). E2 reduction also correlated with the loss of memory in the chronic condition (r = 0.633, P = 0.020). CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that starvation reduces the E2 levels which are associated with memory deficits in ABArats. These effects might explain reduced memory capacity in patients with AN as a consequence of E2 deficiency and the potentially limited effectiveness of psychotherapeutic interventions in the starved state. Future studies should examine whether E2 substitution could prevent cognitive deficits and aid in earlier readiness for therapy.
Authors: Sophie Scharner; Philip Prinz; Miriam Goebel-Stengel; Peter Kobelt; Tobias Hofmann; Matthias Rose; Andreas Stengel Journal: Front Neurosci Date: 2016-10-25 Impact factor: 4.677