Inflammatory dysregulation in women with an eating disorder: Relationships with altered emotional reactivity

BACKGROUND Some studies suggest that inflammatory signaling dysregulation may contribute to eating disorder (ED) pathophysiology. However, little is known about the influence of inflammatory response on altered processes seen among patients with ED, such as emotional processing and reactivity. OBJECTIVES The objectives were: (a) to investigate the systemic inflammatory response in ED women; and (b) to analyze the role of inflammatory markers in emotional reactivity. METHOD Concentrations of several intercellular and intracellular inflammatory mediators (cytokines, prostaglandin by-products and enzymes, TBARS, and MAPK proteins) were quantified in plasma and PBMCs from 68 women with an ED (m = 22.01 years, SD = 9.15) and 35 healthy controls (m = 18.54 years, SD = 4.21). Moreover, emotional reactivity to affective pictures (those without either food or thinness content) was studied using the adult (>18 years old) sample (n = 41). RESULTS Between-group differences were revealed for most markers (TNF-α, PGE2 , COX2, and ratio of activated MAPK proteins), pointing to increased inflammatory response in patients (p