Poster preview
ePoster
IDENTIFICATION OF A NEURAL BASIS FOR ANOREXIA NERVOSA
Qingchun Tongand 3 co-authors
University of Texas at Houston
FENS Forum 2026 (2026)
Barcelona, Spain
Board PS02-07PM-011
Presentation
Date TBA
Board: PS02-07PM-011
Event Information
Poster Board
PS02-07PM-011
Poster
View posterAbstract
Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a debilitating, often lethal, restrictive-type eating disorder without an effective cure and its underlying neural basis remains elusive without an animal model that could recapture all typical AN symptoms. Here we showed that aberrant activation of mediobasal hypothalamic (MBH) glutamatergic neurons led to lethal self-starvation, hyperactivity, anhedonia, social phobia and signs of increased anxiety, all typical symptoms of AN. These symptoms were recaptured by activation of MBH neurons expressing steroidogenic factor (SF1) and estrogen receptor alpha (ERa). The observed AN symptoms by activation of MBH glutamatergic or SF1/ERa neurons were rescued by ablating glutamate release or brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) from these neurons. Importantly, BDNF overexpression in SF1/ERa neurons recaptured typical AN symptoms, which were rescued by ablating glutamate release. Thus, our findings identify aberrantly enhanced BDNF and consequent augmented glutamate release from SF1/ERa neurons as a neural basis underlying AN.
Recommended posters
HYPOTHALAMIC ENSEMBLES DRIVING MALADAPTIVE BEHAVIOUR IN AN ANOREXIA MOUSE MODEL
Eileen Brouwer, Keith Garner, Bernd Schouten, Fabien Ducrocq, Onur Basak, Roger Adan
EXPRESSION OF NEUROTROPHINS IN BRAIN REGIONS OF ANOREXIA NERVOSA MOUSE MODEL: A GOOD BIOMARKER?
Nicolas Ramoz, Jingxian Cao, Virginie Tolle, Philip Gorwood, Odile Viltart
LONG-LASTING GLUCOCORTICOID AND IMMUNE DYSREGULATION SUSTAIN ANOREXIA NERVOSA BEYOND WEIGHT RECOVERY
Francesca Mottarlini, Lorenzo Da Dalt, Susanna Parolaro, Andrea Baragetti, Beatrice Rizzi, Sofia Taddini, Paolo Miglioranza, Letizia Rapini, Anna Chiara Cogognini, Francesca Vairano, Sara Bertelli, Armando D'Agostino, Fabrizia Bonacina, Giuseppe Danilo Norata, Fabio Fumagalli, Lucia Caffino
MULTILAYER MOLECULAR DISRUPTION IN ANOREXIA NERVOSA: CONVERGING SIGNALS FROM EPIGENOME TO MICROBIOME
Federica Gilardini, Annalaura Sabatucci, Carlo Cifani, Cristina Segura-Garcia, Mariangela Pucci, Marianna Rania, Claudio D'Addario
THE HYPOTHALAMIC-PITUITARY-ADRENAL AXIS AS A NEUROENDOCRINE VULNERABILITY SIGNATURE IN THE DEVELOPMENTAL ACTIVITY-BASED ANOREXIA RAT MODEL
Beatrice Rizzi, Francesca Mottarlini, Sofia Taddini, Susanna Parolaro, Letizia Rapini, Silvia Giatti, Fabio Fumagalli, Paola Brivio, Lucia Caffino
A MOTIVATION-BASED DIATHESIS-STRESS MODEL OF ANOREXIA-NERVOSA IN MICE
Rim Fayad, Imane Hurel, Laura Di Lodovico, Giovanni Marsicano, Francis Chaouloff