Serum Visfatin Levels in Patients with Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa

Visfatin is an adipose tissue-derived hormone shown to correlate with visceral fat mass in patients with obesity. Its possible role in patients with different types of eating disorders is unknown. We measured fasting serum levels of visfatin and leptin and surrogate measures of insulin sensitivity in 10 untreated patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), 10 untreated patients with bulimia nervosa (BN) and 20 age-matched healthy women (C) to study the possible role of visfatin in these disorders. Patients with AN had severely decreased body mass index (BMI) and body fat content. BMI of BN group did not significantly differ from that of C group, whereas body fat content of BN group was significantly lower compared to C and higher compared to AN group, respectively. Serum glucose levels did not significantly differ among the groups studied, whereas serum insulin and leptin levels and HOMA index were significantly decreased in AN group relative to both C and BN group. In contrast, serum visfatin levels in both patients with AN and BN did not differ from those of C group. We conclude that circulating visfatin levels are not affected by the presence of chronic malnutrition in AN or binge/purge eating behavior in BN.