PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Bencherif, Badreddine AU - Guarda, Angela S. AU - Colantuoni, Carlo AU - Ravert, Hayden T. AU - Dannals, Robert F. AU - Frost, J. James TI - Regional μ-Opioid Receptor Binding in Insular Cortex Is Decreased in Bulimia Nervosa and Correlates Inversely with Fasting Behavior DP - 2005 Aug 01 TA - Journal of Nuclear Medicine PG - 1349--1351 VI - 46 IP - 8 4099 - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/46/8/1349.short 4100 - http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/46/8/1349.full SO - J Nucl Med2005 Aug 01; 46 AB - 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.