THE EFFECTS OF GROWTH HORMONE-RELEASING FACTOR ON FOOD-CONSUMPTION IN ANOREXIA-NERVOSA PATIENTS AND NORMALS

Current evidence from animal studies indicate that growth hormone-releasing factor (GRF) has direct effects on mechanisms controlling eating behavior. There is also evidence that eating disorder patients have abnormalities in their GRF-growth hormone (GH) axis. The present study investigated the possibility that GRF abnormalities contribute to the expression of abnormal eating patterns in anorexia nervosa (AN) patients, and that GRF has therapeutic potential in this regard. To this end, patients diagnosed with anorexia nervosa or combined anorexia nervosa/bulimia nervosa (AN/BN), as well as normal female subjects, were tested for their eating and GH responses following intravenous infusion of GRF (1 mu g/kg) or placebo. Results indicated that GRF stimulates food consumption in AN patients and attenuates the elevated food consumption in AN/BN patients. These results are consistent with the notion that GRF abnormalities contribute to abnormal earing behavior, and provide preliminary evidence for the therapeutic potential of GRF in such conditions. The extent to which the present effects of GRF are dependent on nutritional status, GH actions, or direct central actions of GRF, are discussed.