Neuroendocrine correlates of binge eating

Abstract

Neuroendocrine systems seem to play a central role in both the development and the maintenance of aberrant eating behaviors, including binge eating (BE). BE occurs in several clinical conditions such as the binge-eating/purging subtype of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. Because of this transdiagnostic position in the spectrum of eating disorders (EDs), it has been particularly problematic to identify hormonal alterations specifically linked to BE behavior because of the direct or indirect neuroendocrine effects of the different nutritional and psychopathological aspects of the various EDs associated with BE. In this chapter, the literature regarding putative links between hormonal factors and BE behavior in human populations is reviewed. We focused on those hormonal systems and substances known to be involved in the regulation of both eating behavior and biological functions directly or indirectly modulating eating behavior such as the endogenous stress response, social interaction, and reward processing. Although findings in this area are far from being conclusive, it seems that BE behavior could be connected with dysfunction in the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis as well as with alterations in substances such a leptin, ghrelin, oxytocin, BDNF and, especially, endocannabinoids, actively involved in the modulation of brain reward processes.