Association of anandamide and 2-arachinodoylglycerol concentrations with clinical features and body mass index in eating disorders and obesity

Background: Anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) play a pivotal role in stimulating motivational behavior toward food and energy metabolism. Aberrant functioning of the endocannabinoid system has been observed in extreme weight conditions (EWCs), suggesting it may influence pathophysiology. Then, we aimed to analyze fasting AEA and 2-AG plasma concentrations among individuals with EWC (i.e., anorexia nervosa [AN] and obesity with and without eating disorders [EDs]) compared with healthy controls (HCs), and its association with clinical variables and body mass index (BMI). Methods: The sample included 113 adult women. Fifty-seven belonged to the obesity group, 37 without EDs (OB-ED) and 20 with ED (OB+ED classified within the binge spectrum disorders), 27 individuals from the AN group, and 29 from the HC group. Peripheral blood samples, several clinical variables, and BMI were evaluated. Results: Unlike 2-AG, AEA concentrations showed significant differences between groups (p < 0.001). Increased AEA was observed in the OB-ED and OB+ED compared with both HC and AN group, respectively. Likewise, AEA was differentially associated with emotional dysregulation, general psychopathology, food addiction, and BMI in all clinical groups. Conclusions: These results support the interaction between biological and clinical factors contributing to delineating vulnerability pathways in EWC that could help fit personalized therapeutic approaches. We thank CERCA Programme / Generalitat de Cataluny a for institutional support. This manuscript and research were supported by grants from the Delegación del Gobierno para el Plan Nacional sobre Drogas (2021I031), Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PDI2021-124887OB-I00), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) (FIS PI20/00132) and cofounded by FEDER funds/European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), a way to build Europe. CIBER Obn, CIBERSAM, and CIBERDEM are initiatives of ISCIII. Additional funding was received by AGAUR- Generalitat de Catalunya (2021-SGR-00824 and 2021 SGR 00253) and European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant agreement no. 728018 (H2020-SFS-2016-2, Eat2beNice), no. 847879 (PRIME/H2020, Prevention and Remediation of Insulin Multi morbidity in Europe) and no. 101080219 (eprObes). This study has also been funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III through the grant CM21/00172 (IB) (Co-funded by European Social Fund. ESF investing in your future). RG is supported by the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA-Academia, 2021-Programme). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.