Altered insulin response to a balanced test meal in bulimic patients

✍ Scribed by Schweiger, Ulrich ;Poellinger, Johannes ;Laessle, Reinhold ;Wolfman, Guenther ;Fichter, Manfred M. ;Pirke, Karl-Martin

• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 1987
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 322 KB
• Volume: 6
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0276-3478
• DOI: 10.1002/1098-108x(198707)6:4<551::aid-eat2260060412>3.0.co;2-7

✦ Synopsis

Impaired glucose tolerance with overshooting insulin secretion has been reported in anorexia nervosa, in starvation, and in low carbohydrate diets. Since impaired glucose tolerance is a further indicator of starvation andlor carbohydrate restriction and possibly contributes to impairment of mechanisms of hunger and satiety, we examined insulin and glucose responses in bulimic patients. Data show that in bulimic patients as compared with age-matched controls, insulin secretion and glucose levels can be elevated after a balanced test meal. This indicates disturbed glucose tolerance. Whether this reduced glucose tolerance can be related to altered kinetics of insulin release or ro cellular insulin resistance cannot be decided on the basis of our data.

Bulimia is a disease characterized by binge eating and the subsequent weight control behavior: vomiting, laxative abuse, excessive exercise, and intermittent dieting. Cross-sectional studies reveal indices of starvation in a large portion of bulimic patients. Pirke et al. (1985) and reported decreased triiodothyronine (TJ, decreased orthostatic norepinephrine response, increased betahydroxybutyric acid blood levels, and increased platelet alpha-2adrenoceptor levels, which characterize hypometabolism and decreased sympathetic function.