SpringerLink
Log in

Increased plasma asprosin levels are associated with overeating and loss of control in drug-free bulimia nervosa

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Abnormalities in appetite hormones have been implicated in bulimia nervosa (BN). Orexigenic hormone asprosin has been reported to be associated with food intake and weight gain, but no relevant studies have yet been reported in BN. This study investigated asprosin concentrations and their association with eating disorder symptoms in patients with BN.

Methods

This study recruited a total of 26 BN patients and 23 healthy controls (HC). Symptom severity for eating disorders, depression, and anxiety was determined by the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire 6.0, Beck Depression Inventory, Version 2, and Beck Anxiety Inventory, respectively. In addition, the study employed sandwich enzyme-linked immunoassay technology to determine plasma asprosin and glucose concentrations in all participants.

Results

The results revealed that plasma asprosin concentrations were significantly higher in BN patients than in HC (P = 0.037), but the difference disappeared after adjusting for the covariate BMI (F = 2.685, P = 0.108). Correlation analysis showed that asprosin concentration was positively correlated with overeating (r = 0.451, P = 0.021) and eating loss of control (r = 0.483, P = 0.012) in BN patients. Linear regression analysis indicated that an increase in asprosin concentration was associated with an increase in the times of overeating (F = 6.303, P = 0.019, R2 = 0.208). Multiple linear regression showed that increases in asprosin concentration and BDI-II total score could explain the frequent eating loss of control (F = 5.766, P = 0.009, R2 = 0.334).

Conclusions

The present study is the first report of plasma asprosin concentration in BN patients and found that overeating and eating loss of control increased with the increase of asprosin concentration. Additionally, asprosin level and degree of depression may explain the frequency of loss of control.

Level of Evidence

Level III: Evidence obtained from case–control studies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Castillo M, Weiselberg E (2017) Bulimia nervosa/purging disorder. Curr Probl Pediatr Adolesc Health Care 47(4):85–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cppeds.2017.02.004

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Friederich HC, Wu M, Simon JJ, Herzog W (2013) Neurocircuit function in eating disorders. Int J Eat Disord 46(5):425–432. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.22099

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Ueno H, Yamaguchi H, Kangawa K, Nakazato M (2005) Ghrelin: a gastric peptide that regulates food intake and energy homeostasis. Regul Pept 126(1):11–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.regpep.2004.08.007

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Monteleone P, Martiadis V, Fabrazzo M, Serritella C, Maj M (2003) Ghrelin and leptin responses to food ingestion in bulimia nervosa: implications for binge-eating and compensatory behaviours. Psychol Med 33(8):1387–1394. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291703008316

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Monteleone P, Serritella C, Scognamiglio P, Maj M (2010) Enhanced ghrelin secretion in the cephalic phase of food ingestion in women with bulimia nervosa. Psychoneuroendocrinology 35(2):284–288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.07.001

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Tanaka M, Naruo T, Nagai N, Kuroki N, Shiiya T, Nakazato M, Matsukura S, Nozoe S (2003) Habitual binge/purge behavior influences circulating ghrelin levels in eating disorders. J Psychiatr Res 37(1):17–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0022-3956(02)00067-5

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Jimerson DC, Mantzoros C, Wolfe BE, Metzger ED (2000) Decreased serum leptin in bulimia nervosa. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 85(12):4511–4514. https://doi.org/10.1210/jcem.85.12.7051

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Monteleone P, Martiadis V, Colurcio B, Maj M (2002) Leptin secretion is related to chronicity and severity of the illness in bulimia nervosa. Psychosom Med 64(6):874–879. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.psy.0000024239.11538.a5

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Monteleone P, Bortolotti F, Fabrazzo M, La Rocca A, Fuschino A, Maj M (2000) Plamsa leptin response to acute fasting and refeeding in untreated women with bulimia nervosa. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 85(7):2499–2503. https://doi.org/10.1210/jcem.85.7.6673

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Brewerton TD, Lesem MD, Kennedy A, Garvey WT (2000) Reduced plasma leptin concentrations in bulimia nervosa. Psychoneuroendocrinology 25(7):649–658. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0306-4530(00)00016-0

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Duerrschmid C, He Y, Wang C, Li C, Bournat JC, Romere C, Saha PK, Lee ME, Phillips KJ, Jain M, Jia P, Zhao Z, Farias M, Wu Q, Milewicz DM, Sutton VR, Moore DD, Butte NF, Krashes MJ, Xu Y, Chopra AR (2017) Asprosin is a centrally acting orexigenic hormone. Nat Med 23(12):1444–1453. https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.4432

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Mishra I, **e WR, Bournat JC, He Y, Wang C, Silva ES, Liu H, Ku Z, Chen Y, Erokwu BO, Jia P, Zhao Z, An Z, Flask CA, He Y, Xu Y, Chopra AR (2022) Protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor δ serves as the orexigenic asprosin receptor. Cell Metab 34(4):549-563.e548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2022.02.012

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Liu Y, Long A, Chen L, Jia L, Wang Y (2020) The Asprosin-OLFR734 module regulates appetitive behaviors. Cell discovery 6:19. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41421-020-0152-4

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Romere C, Duerrschmid C, Bournat J, Constable P, Jain M, **a F, Saha PK, Del Solar M, Zhu B, York B, Sarkar P, Rendon DA, Gaber MW, LeMaire SA, Coselli JS, Milewicz DM, Sutton VR, Butte NF, Moore DD, Chopra AR (2016) Asprosin, a fasting-induced glucogenic protein hormone. Cell 165(3):566–579. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2016.02.063

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Ugur K, Aydin S (2019) Saliva and blood asprosin hormone concentration associated with obesity. Int J Endocrinol 2019:2521096. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/2521096

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. Wang M, Yin C, Wang L, Liu Y, Li H, Li M, Yi X, **ao Y (2019) Serum asprosin concentrations are increased and associated with insulin resistance in children with obesity. Ann Nutr Metab 75(4):205–212. https://doi.org/10.1159/000503808

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Sünnetçi Silistre E, Hatipoğl HU (2020) Increased serum circulating asprosin levels in children with obesity. Pediatr Int 62(4):467–476. https://doi.org/10.1111/ped.14176

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Hu Y, Xu Y, Zheng Y, Kang Q, Lou Z, Liu Q, Chen H, Ji Y, Guo L, Chen C, Ruan L, Chen J (2021) Increased plasma asprosin levels in patients with drug-naive anorexia nervosa. Eating Weight Disord-Stud Anorex, Bulim Obes 26(1):313–321. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-020-00845-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Chaput JP, Tremblay A (2009) The glucostatic theory of appetite control and the risk of obesity and diabetes. Int J Obes 33(1):46–53. https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2008.221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Johnson WG, Jarrell MP, Chupurdia KM, Williamson DA (1994) Repeated binge/purge cycles in bulimia nervosa: role of glucose and insulin. Int J Eat Disord 15(4):331–341. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.2260150404

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Berg KC, Peterson CB, Frazier P, Crow SJ (2012) Psychometric evaluation of the eating disorder examination and eating disorder examination-questionnaire: a systematic review of the literature. Int J Eat Disord 45(3):428–438. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.20931

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Wang X, Wang Y, **n T (2020) The psychometric properties of the chinese version of the beck depression inventory-II with middle school teachers. Front Psychol 11:548965–548965. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.548965

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Liang Y, Wang L, Zhu J (2018) Factor structure and psychometric properties of Chinese version of beck anxiety inventory in Chinese doctors. J Health Psychol 23(5):657–666. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105316658971

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Treasure J, Duarte TA, Schmidt U (2020) Eating disorders. Lancet 395(10227):899–911. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30059-3

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors of the present study are grateful to all the participants.

Funding

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82071545), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (YG2022ZD026), Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (20Y11906500), Shanghai Municipal Health Commission (2019ZB0201), Shanghai Clinical Research Center for Mental Health (19MC1911100).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Psychology, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 600 Wan ** Nan Road, Shanghai, 200030, People’s Republic of China

    Yanran Hu, Qing Kang, Chen Chen, Lei Guo & Jue Chen

Authors
  1. Yanran Hu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Qing Kang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Chen Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lei Guo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jue Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

YRH and JC: designed the study, YRH, QK, CC: performed asprosin and glucose measurements and data analysis, JC and QK: recruited patients, YRH, CC and LG: recruited healthy controls. All authors contributed to and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jue Chen.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Shanghai Mental Health Center (2018–26) and conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Informed consent

All participants in the study signed an informed consent to participate.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hu, Y., Kang, Q., Chen, C. et al. Increased plasma asprosin levels are associated with overeating and loss of control in drug-free bulimia nervosa. Eat Weight Disord 27, 2783–2789 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-022-01431-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-022-01431-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation