Bang Lasse, Rø Øyvind, Endestad Tor
Regional Department for Eating Disorders, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, P.O. Box 4956 Nydalen, Oslo, 0424, Norway.
Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1171 Blindern, Oslo, 0318, Norway.
Int J Eat Disord. 2018 Jan;51(1):46-52. doi: 10.1002/eat.22802. Epub 2017 Nov 9.
Studies point to white matter (WM) microstructure alterations in both adolescent and adult patients with anorexia nervosa (AN). These include reduced fractional anisotropy in several WM fiber tracts, suggesting reduced WM integrity. The extent to which these alterations are reversible with recovery from AN is unclear. There is a paucity of research investigating the presence of WM microstructure alterations in recovered AN patients, and results are inconsistent. This study aimed to investigate the presence of WM microstructure alterations in women long-term recovered from AN.
Twenty-one adult women who were recovered from AN for at least 1 year were compared to 21 adult comparison women. Participants were recruited via user-organizations for eating disorders, local advertisements, and online forums. Diffusion tensor imaging was used to compare WM microstructure between groups. Correlations between WM microstructure and clinical characteristics were also explored.
There were no statistically significant between-group differences in WM microstructure. These null findings remained when employing liberal alpha level thresholds. Furthermore, there were no statistically significant correlations between WM microstructure and clinical characteristics.
Our findings showed normal WM microstructure in long-term recovered patients, indicating the alterations observed during the acute phase are reversible. Given the paucity of research and inconsistent findings, future studies are warranted to determine the presence of WM microstructure alterations following recovery from AN.
研究表明，青少年和成年神经性厌食症（AN）患者均存在白质（WM）微观结构改变。这些改变包括多个WM纤维束的分数各向异性降低，提示WM完整性降低。目前尚不清楚这些改变在AN康复后可逆的程度。关于康复的AN患者中WM微观结构改变的研究较少，且结果不一致。本研究旨在调查长期从AN康复的女性中WM微观结构改变的情况。
将21名从AN康复至少1年的成年女性与21名成年对照女性进行比较。通过饮食失调用户组织、当地广告和在线论坛招募参与者。采用扩散张量成像比较两组之间的WM微观结构。还探讨了WM微观结构与临床特征之间的相关性。
两组之间的WM微观结构在统计学上无显著差异。采用宽松的α水平阈值时，这些阴性结果仍然存在。此外，WM微观结构与临床特征之间在统计学上无显著相关性。
我们的研究结果显示，长期康复患者的WM微观结构正常，表明急性期观察到的改变是可逆的。鉴于研究较少且结果不一致，未来有必要开展研究以确定AN康复后WM微观结构改变的情况。
