TY - JOUR
T1 - Association of anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol concentrations with clinical features and body mass index in eating disorders and obesity
AU - Baenas, Isabel
AU - Miranda-Olivos, Romina
AU - Granero, Roser
AU - Solé-Morata, Neus
AU - Sánchez, Isabel
AU - Pastor, Antoni
AU - Del Pino-Gutiérrez, Amparo
AU - Codina, Ester
AU - Tinahones, Francisco J
AU - Fernández-Formoso, José A
AU - Vilarrasa, Núria
AU - Guerrero-Pérez, Fernando
AU - Lopez-Urdiales, Rafael
AU - Virgili, Núria
AU - Soriano-Mas, Carles
AU - Jiménez-Murcia, Susana
AU - de la Torre, Rafael
AU - Fernández-Aranda, Fernando
N1 - Funding information:
This manuscript and research were supported by grants from the Delegación del Gobierno para el Plan Nacional sobre Drogas (2019I47 and 2021I031), Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PDI2021-124887OB-I00), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) (FIS PI20/00132), and co-funded by FEDER funds/European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), a way to build Europe. CIBERObn and CIBERSAM are both initiatives of ISCIII. Additional support was received from EU Grant Eat2beNice (H2020-SFS-2016- 2; Ref. 728018). IB was supported by a Post-Residency Grant from the Research Committee of the University Hospital of Bellvitge (HUB; Barcelona, Spain; 2020-2021) and by Instituto de Salud Carlos III through the grant CM21/00172 (co-funded by European Social Fund. ESF investing in your future). RG is supported by the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA-Academia, 2021-Programme). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
PY - 2023/5/31
Y1 - 2023/5/31
N2 - BACKGROUND: Anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) play a pivotal role in stimulating motivational behavior toward food and energy metabolism. Aberrant functioning of the endocannabinoid system has been observed in extreme weight conditions (EWCs), suggesting it may influence pathophysiology. Then, we aimed to analyze fasting AEA and 2-AG plasma concentrations among individuals with EWC (i.e., anorexia nervosa [AN] and obesity with and without eating disorders [EDs]) compared with healthy controls (HCs), and its association with clinical variables and body mass index (BMI).METHODS: The sample included 113 adult women. Fifty-seven belonged to the obesity group, 37 without EDs (OB-ED) and 20 with ED (OB+ED classified within the binge spectrum disorders), 27 individuals from the AN group, and 29 from the HC group. Peripheral blood samples, several clinical variables, and BMI were evaluated.RESULTS: Unlike 2-AG, AEA concentrations showed significant differences between groups (
p < 0.001). Increased AEA was observed in the OB-ED and OB+ED compared with both HC and AN group, respectively. Likewise, AEA was differentially associated with emotional dysregulation, general psychopathology, food addiction, and BMI in all clinical groups.
CONCLUSIONS: These results support the interaction between biological and clinical factors contributing to delineating vulnerability pathways in EWC that could help fit personalized therapeutic approaches.
AB - BACKGROUND: Anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) play a pivotal role in stimulating motivational behavior toward food and energy metabolism. Aberrant functioning of the endocannabinoid system has been observed in extreme weight conditions (EWCs), suggesting it may influence pathophysiology. Then, we aimed to analyze fasting AEA and 2-AG plasma concentrations among individuals with EWC (i.e., anorexia nervosa [AN] and obesity with and without eating disorders [EDs]) compared with healthy controls (HCs), and its association with clinical variables and body mass index (BMI).METHODS: The sample included 113 adult women. Fifty-seven belonged to the obesity group, 37 without EDs (OB-ED) and 20 with ED (OB+ED classified within the binge spectrum disorders), 27 individuals from the AN group, and 29 from the HC group. Peripheral blood samples, several clinical variables, and BMI were evaluated.RESULTS: Unlike 2-AG, AEA concentrations showed significant differences between groups (
p < 0.001). Increased AEA was observed in the OB-ED and OB+ED compared with both HC and AN group, respectively. Likewise, AEA was differentially associated with emotional dysregulation, general psychopathology, food addiction, and BMI in all clinical groups.
CONCLUSIONS: These results support the interaction between biological and clinical factors contributing to delineating vulnerability pathways in EWC that could help fit personalized therapeutic approaches.
KW - 2-Arachidonoylglycerol
KW - anandamide
KW - eating disorders
KW - endocannabinoids
KW - obesity
U2 - 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2023.2411
DO - 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2023.2411
M3 - Article
C2 - 37254556
SN - 0924-9338
VL - 66
SP - 1
EP - 11
JO - European Psychiatry
JF - European Psychiatry
IS - 1
M1 - e49
ER -
