Dissecting the biology of feeding and eating disorders

Trends Mol Med. 2024 Mar 1:S1471-4914(24)00022-4. doi: 10.1016/j.molmed.2024.01.009. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTFeeding and eating disorders (FEDs) are heterogenous and characterized by varying patterns of dysregulated eating and weight. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) are clarifying their underlying biology and their genetic relationship to other psychiatric and metabolic/anthropometric traits. Genetic research on anorexia nervosa (AN) has identified eight significant loci and uncovered genetic correlations implicating both psychiatric and metabolic/anthropometric risk factors. Careful explication of these metabolic contributors may be key to developing effective and enduring treatments for devastating, life-altering, and frequently lethal illnesses. We discuss clinical phenomenology, genomics, phenomics, intestinal microbiota, and functional genomics and propose a path that translates variants to genes, genes to pathways, and pathways to metabolic outcomes to advance the science and eventually treatment of FEDs.PMID:38431502 | DOI:10.1016/j.molmed.2024.01.009
Source: Trends in Molecular Medicine - Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Source Type: research