Abstract
Objective
To investigate the response of anorexigenic oxytocin to food intake among adolescents and young adults with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), a restrictive eating disorder characterized by lack of interest in food or eating, sensory sensitivity to food, and/or fear of aversive consequences of eating, compared with healthy controls (HC).
Design
Cross-sectional.
Methods
A total of 109 participants (54 with ARFID spectrum and 55 HC) were instructed to eat a ∼400-kcal standardized mixed meal. We sampled serum oxytocin at fasting and at 30-, 60-, and 120-min postmeal. We tested the hypothesis that ARFID would show higher mean oxytocin levels across time points compared with HC using a mixed model ANOVA. We then used multivariate regression analysis to identify the impact of clinical characteristics (sex, age, and body mass index [BMI] percentile) on oxytocin levels in individuals with ARFID.
Results
Participants with ARFID exhibited greater mean oxytocin levels at all time points compared with HC, and these differences remained significant even after controlling for sex and BMI percentile (P = .004). Clinical variables (sex, age, and BMI percentile) did not show any impact on fasting and postprandial oxytocin levels among individuals with ARFID.
Conclusions
Consistently high oxytocin levels might be involved in low appetite and sensory aversions to food, contributing to food avoidance in individuals with ARFID.
To investigate the response of anorexigenic oxytocin to food intake among adolescents and young adults with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), a restrictive eating disorder characterized by lack of interest in food or eating, sensory sensitivity to food, and/or fear of aversive consequences of eating, compared with healthy controls (HC).
Design
Cross-sectional.
Methods
A total of 109 participants (54 with ARFID spectrum and 55 HC) were instructed to eat a ∼400-kcal standardized mixed meal. We sampled serum oxytocin at fasting and at 30-, 60-, and 120-min postmeal. We tested the hypothesis that ARFID would show higher mean oxytocin levels across time points compared with HC using a mixed model ANOVA. We then used multivariate regression analysis to identify the impact of clinical characteristics (sex, age, and body mass index [BMI] percentile) on oxytocin levels in individuals with ARFID.
Results
Participants with ARFID exhibited greater mean oxytocin levels at all time points compared with HC, and these differences remained significant even after controlling for sex and BMI percentile (P = .004). Clinical variables (sex, age, and BMI percentile) did not show any impact on fasting and postprandial oxytocin levels among individuals with ARFID.
Conclusions
Consistently high oxytocin levels might be involved in low appetite and sensory aversions to food, contributing to food avoidance in individuals with ARFID.
| Originalsprog | Engelsk |
|---|---|
| Tidsskrift | European Journal of Endocrinology |
| Vol/bind | 189 |
| Udgave nummer | 2 |
| Sider (fra-til) | 149-155 |
| Antal sider | 7 |
| ISSN | 0804-4643 |
| DOI | |
| Status | Udgivet - 2023 |
Bibliografisk note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health R01MH108595 (J.J.T., E.A.L., N.M.), R01MH103402 (M.M., E.A.L., K.T.E.), K24MH120568 (E.A.L.), P30 DK040561 (Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard), F32MH111172 and K23MH125143 (K.R.B.), 1UL1TR002541-01 (Clinical Research Center Grant – Massachusetts General Hospital), and K23DK131334 (H.B.M.).
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University.