Abstract
In this study, we explored the potential association between estrogen receptor β (ERβ) and disease in a group of bulimic women. Eating disorders are much more common in females than in males, suggesting a possible role for female sex hormone signalling in the pathogenesis of these diseases. Furthermore, estrogen has been implicated in appetite regulation. The occurrence of menstrual disturbances is also increased in bulimic women. We studied 76 bulimic women and 60 controls, and found an association between two common polymorphisms in the ERβ gene with disease in this group of bulimic women. More detailed characterisation of the ERβ gene identified a novel variant changing the primary structure of ERβ protein in one bulimic patient. An initial functional characterization of this variant did not reveal any differences compared to the wild-type protein. Our findings point towards a possible role of ERβ and/or neighboring genes in the etiology of disease in bulimic patients.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andersen AE . Gender-related aspects of eating disorders: a guide to practice. J Gender Specif Med 1999; 2: 47–54.
Geary N . Estradiol, CCK and satiation. Peptides 2001; 22: 1251–1263.
Lindén A, Uvnäs-Moberg K, Forsberg G, Bednar I, Södersten P . Involvement of cholecystokinin in food intake: III, Oestradiol potentiates the inhibitory effect of cholecystokinin octapeptide on food intake in ovariectomized rats. J Neuroendocrinol 1990; 2: 797–801.
Eckel LA, Geary N . Endogenous cholecystokinin's satiating action increases during estrus in female rats. Peptides 1999; 20: 451–456.
Asarian L, Geary N . Cyclic estradiol treatment phasically potentiates endogenous cholecystokinin's satiating action in ovariectomized rats. Peptides 1999; 20: 445–450.
Gendall KA, Bulik CM, Joyce PR, McIntosh VV, Carter FA . Menstrual cycle irregularity in bulimia nervosa. Associated factors and changes with treatment. J Psychosom Res 2000; 49: 409–415.
Laflamme N, Nappi RE, Drolet G, Labrie C, Rivest S . Expression and neuropeptidergic characterization of estrogen receptors (ERalpha and ERbeta) throughout the rat brain: anatomical evidence of distinct roles of each subtype. J Neurobiol 1998; 36: 357–378.
Liang YQ, Akishita M, Kim S, Ako J, Hashimoto M, Iijima K et al. Estrogen receptor beta is involved in the anorectic action of estrogen. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2002; 26: 1103–1109.
Lilenfeld LR, Kaye W, Greeno C, Merikangas K, Plotnikov K, Pollice C et al. A controlled family study of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: psychiatric disorders in first-degree relatives and effects of proband comorbidity. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1998; 55: 603–610.
Strober M, Freeman R, Lampert C, Diamond J, Kaye W . Controlled family study of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: evidence of shared liability and transmission of partial syndromes. Am J Psychiatry 2000; 157: 393–401.
Bulik CM, Sullivan PF, Wade T, Kendler K . Twin studies of eating disorders: a review. Int J Eat Disord 2000; 27: 1–20.
Kendler KS, MacLean C, Neale MC, Kessler RC, Heath AC, Eaves LJ . The genetic epidemiology of bulimia nervosa. Am J Psychiatry 1991; 148: 1627–1637.
Bulik CM, Sullivan PF, Kendler KS . Heritability of binge-eating and broadly defined bulimia nervosa. Biol Psychiatry 1998; 44: 1210–1218.
Wade T, Neale MC, Lake RIE, Martin NG . A genetic analysis of the eating and attitudes associated with bulimia nervosa: dealing with the problem of ascertainment in twin studies. Behav Genet 1999; 29: 1–10.
Kortegaard LS, Hoerder K, Joergensen J, Gillberg C, Kyvik KO . A preliminary population-based twin study of self-reported eating disorder. Psychol Med 2001; 31: 361–365.
Rosenkranz K, Hinney A, Ziegler A, Hermann H, Fichter M, Mayer H et al. Systematic mutation screening of the estrogen receptor beta gene in probands of different weight extremes: identification of several genetic variants. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1998; 83: 4524–4527.
Ogawa S, Hosoi T, Shiraki M, Orimo H, Emi M, Muramatsu M et al. Association of estrogen receptor beta gene polymorphism with bone mineral density. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2000; 269: 537–541.
Ogawa S, Emi M, Shiraki M, Hosoi T, Ouchi Y, Inoue S . Association of estrogen receptor beta (ESR2) gene polymorphism with blood pressure. J Hum Genet 2000; 45: 327–330.
Sundarrajan C, Liao W, Roy AC, Ng SC . Association between estrogen receptor-beta gene polymorphisms and ovulatory dysfunctions in patients with menstrual disorders. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2001; 86: 135–139.
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edn, revised. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 1994.
Stephens M, Smith NJ, Donnelly P . A new statistical method for haplotype reconstruction from population data. Am J Hum Genet 2001; 68: 978–989.
Pritchard JK, Przeworski M . Linkage disequilibrium in humans: models and data. Am J Hum Genet 2001; 69: 1–14.
Bulik CM, Devlin B, Bacanu S-A, Thornton L, Klump KL, Fichter MM et al. Significant linkage on chromosome 10p in families with bulimia nervosa. Am J Hum Genet 2003; 72: 200–207.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nilsson, M., Naessén, S., Dahlman, I. et al. Association of estrogen receptor β gene polymorphisms with bulimic disease in women. Mol Psychiatry 9, 28–34 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001402
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001402
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
A review on association and correlation of genetic variants with eating disorders and obesity
Future Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences (2021)
-
Role of eating disorders-related polymorphisms in obesity pathophysiology
Reviews in Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (2019)
-
Estrogen receptor 1 gene polymorphisms are associated with metabolic syndrome in postmenopausal women in China
BMC Endocrine Disorders (2018)
-
Association of estrogen receptor β gene polymorphisms with vascular dementia in women
Neurological Sciences (2012)
-
Association of Rsa polymorphism of the estrogen receptor-β gene with rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatology International (2012)