Int. J. Med. Sci. 2011, 8 679 Ivyspring International Publisher International Journal of Medical Sciences 2011; 8(8):679-703 Review Anorexia Nervosa: A Unified Neurological Perspective Tasneem Fatema Hasan, Hunaid Hasan Mahatma Gandhi Mission’s Medical College, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India Corresponding author:
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[email protected]. 1345 Daniel Creek Road, Mississau- ga, Ontario, L5V1V3, Canada. © Ivyspring International Publisher. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/). Reproduction is permitted for personal, noncommercial use, provided that the article is in whole, unmodified, and properly cited. Received: 2011.05.03; Accepted: 2011.09.19; Published: 2011.10.22 Abstract The roles of corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF), opioid peptides, leptin and ghrelin in anorexia nervosa (AN) were discussed in this paper. CRF is the key mediator of the hypo- thalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and also acts at various other parts of the brain, such as the limbic system and the peripheral nervous system. CRF action is mediated through the CRF1 and CRF2 receptors, with both HPA axis-dependent and HPA axis-independent ac- tions, where the latter shows nil involvement of the autonomic nervous system. CRF1 re- ceptors mediate both the HPA axis-dependent and independent pathways through CRF, while the CRF2 receptors exclusively mediate the HPA axis-independent pathways through uro- cortin. Opioid peptides are involved in the adaptation and regulation of energy intake and utilization through reward-related behavior. Opioids play a role in the addictive component of AN, as described by the “auto-addiction opioids theory”.