Genetic Link Found Between Eating Disorders And Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Main Category: Eating Disorders
Also Included In: Genetics;  Mental Health;  Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 25 Feb 2006 - 18:00 PDT

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Researchers at the University of Toronto have unravelled the genetic link between eating disorders and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) among women who experience both syndromes. Their study, published in European Neuropsychopharmacology, suggests how a particular gene influences OCD pathology in an eating disorder population.

"We've known for sometime that there are often high rates of OCD in families with eating disorders and, to some extent, vice-versa," Levitan says. "For these individuals, the eating disorder becomes part of the way that their OCD is expressed. What isn't known is what role genetics plays in the relationship between the two disorders."

Levitan, along with Professor Allan Kaplan and other colleagues, genotyped 165 women between 16 and 55 with bulimia nervosa for a variant of the serotonin-1B receptor gene G861C allele, known to contribute to OCD. They also conducted structured interviews with the women to detect full or partial OCD, and found that among the 27.3 per cent who had the full or partial syndrome, the G861C polymorphism provided strong differentiation with the G allele being associated with the full syndrome and the C allele with the partial.

"These results tell us that this allele isn't causing obsessive symptoms but working to moderate them," Levitan says. "It may be that another gene is causing OCD, and that this allele works with that gene to affect the syndrome's severity." Tracing the genetic underpinnings of eating disorders is a challenging task because the syndrome involves multiple genes.

"Working with subgroups allows us to parcel out the genetic information and focus on one contributing factor, and may be a swifter path to practical solutions," Levitan says. "For example, developing a drug to normalize cell functioning at this gene's receptor site could be of particular benefit to those who are more likely to experience repetitive behaviour and be obsessed with different aspects of their eating disorder."

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