Carbone Elvira Anna, Rania Marianna, Catalano Federica, D'Onofrio Ettore, de Filippis Renato, Quirino Daria, Aloi Matteo, Hribal Marta Letizia, Fiorentino Teresa Vanessa, Segura-Garcia Cristina
Department of Health Sciences, University Magna Graecia, Catanzaro, Italy.
Psychiatry Unit, Outpatient Unit for Clinical Research and Treatment of Eating Disorders, University Hospital Renato Dulbecco, Catanzaro, Italy.
J Eat Disord. 2025 Aug 28;13(1):191. doi: 10.1186/s40337-025-01387-8.
Food addiction (FA) has gained more scientific attention but needs deeper understanding. Data indicates that the central melanocortin (MC) system through the MC4 receptor (MC4R) and its polymorphisms play a crucial role in the regulation of eating behaviour and in the motivation for the rewarding properties of food potentially leading to obesity. This may also contribute to the emergence of altered reward-related behaviors such as FA. The study aims to evaluate the genetic contribution of rs17782313, rs12970134, rs10871777, rs6567160, rs17700144 MC4R polymorphisms to the development of FA and to assess the association between these MC4R variations and clinical features.
Eating (EDE-Q, BES, NEQ, GQ) and general psychopathology (BDI-II, STAI-S, DERS) were evaluated in patients with obesity with and without FA. Y-FAS 2.0 was used to assess FA. A blood sample was collected from all patients for the genotyping of MC4R polymorphisms.
All the polymorphisms were equally distributed between groups except for rs17782313. A direct association between rs17782313 with FA was evident. Patients with FA and with C allele showed higher risk of FA compared to group without FA. There was a significant effect of rs17782313 on psychopathological variables in patients with FA. Allele C carriers exhibited higher anxiety and depression than T carriers.
The rs17782313 of the MC4R showed an association with FA. A significant direct influence of C allele on anxiety and depression emerged in the group with FA but not in patients without FA.
食物成瘾（FA）已受到更多科学关注，但仍需深入了解。数据表明，中枢黑皮质素（MC）系统通过MC4受体（MC4R）及其多态性在饮食行为调节以及食物奖赏特性的动机形成中发挥关键作用，这可能导致肥胖。这也可能促使如食物成瘾等与奖赏相关行为的改变。本研究旨在评估MC4R基因多态性rs17782313、rs12970134、rs10871777、rs6567160、rs17700144对食物成瘾发展的遗传贡献，并评估这些MC4R变异与临床特征之间的关联。
对有和没有食物成瘾的肥胖患者进行饮食（饮食失调检查问卷、进食行为量表、自然进食问卷、贪食量表）和一般精神病理学（贝克抑郁量表第二版、状态特质焦虑量表、情绪调节困难量表）评估。采用青少年食物成瘾量表2.0评估食物成瘾。采集所有患者的血样进行MC4R基因多态性基因分型。
除rs17782313外，所有多态性在各组间分布均等。rs17782313与食物成瘾之间存在明显的直接关联。与无食物成瘾组相比，携带C等位基因的食物成瘾患者患食物成瘾的风险更高。rs17782313对食物成瘾患者的精神病理学变量有显著影响。等位基因C携带者比T携带者表现出更高的焦虑和抑郁水平。
MC4R的rs17782313与食物成瘾有关。在有食物成瘾的组中，C等位基因对焦虑和抑郁有显著的直接影响，而在无食物成瘾的患者中则没有。
