%0 Journal Article %A Badreddine Bencherif %A Angela S. Guarda %A Carlo Colantuoni %A Hayden T. Ravert %A Robert F. Dannals %A J. James Frost %T Regional μ-Opioid Receptor Binding in Insular Cortex Is Decreased in Bulimia Nervosa and Correlates Inversely with Fasting Behavior %D 2005 %J Journal of Nuclear Medicine %P 1349-1351 %V 46 %N 8 %X The endogenous opioid system of the brain has been implicated in feeding behavior. Abnormal repeated activation of this system may constitute a neural substrate for the compulsive eating behavior observed in bulimia nervosa. This study examined the binding potential of the brain μ-opioid receptor (μ-OR) in bulimia nervosa. Methods: Eight women with bulimia nervosa and 8 female controls underwent brain MRI followed by 11C-carfentanil PET. Voxel-based methods were used to assess group differences in μ-OR binding between controls and bulimic subjects and to correlate μ-OR binding with the frequency of recent self-reported abnormal eating behaviors in bulimic subjects. Results: μ-OR binding in the left insular cortex was less in bulimic subjects than in controls and correlated negatively with recent fasting behavior. Conclusion: Changes in μ-OR binding in the insula may be important in the pathogenesis or maintenance of the self-perpetuating behavioral cycle of bulimic subjects because the insula is the primary gustatory cortex and has repeatedly been implicated in the processing of the reward value of food. %U https://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/jnumed/46/8/1349.full.pdf