Serotonin transporter binding after recovery from eating disorders

Rationale Several lines of evidence suggest that altered serotonin (5-HT) function persists after recovery from anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN). Objectives We compared 11 subjects who recovered (> 1 year normal weight, regular menstrual cycles, no bingeing or purging) from restricting-type AN (REC RAN), 7 who recovered from bulimia-type AN (REC BAN), 9 who recovered from BN (REC BN), and 10 healthy control women (CW). Materials and methods Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with [C-11]McN5652 was used to assess the 5-HT transporter (5-HTT). For [C-11]McN5652, distribution volume (DV) values were determined using a two-compartment, three-parameter tracer kinetic model, and specific binding was assessed using the binding potential (BP, BP=DVregion of interest/DVcerebellum-1). Results After correction for multiple comparisons, the four groups showed significant (p < 0.05) differences for [C-11]McN5652 BP values for the dorsal raphe and antero-ventral striatum (AVS). Post-hoc analysis revealed that REC RAN had significantly increased [C-11]McN5652 BP compared to REC BAN in these regions. Conclusions Divergent 5-HTT activity in subtypes of eating disorder subjects may provide important insights as to why these groups have differences in affective regulation and impulse control.