The Responses of Plasma Adrenocorticotropin and Cortisol to Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone (CRH) and Cerebrospinal Fluid Immunoreactive CRH in Anorexia Nervosa Patients*

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Abstract
Pituitary-adrenocortical responses to the iv injection of 100 μg synthetic ovine corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) were studied in 13 patients with anorexia nervosa, and the concentrations of immunoreactive CRH in cerebrospinal fluid were measured in 7 of them. Mean basal levels of plasma ACTH and cortisol were 32 ± 5 pg/ml (±SEM) and 21.1 ± 1.5 μg/dl, respectively. The latter value was significantly higher than that in age-matched normal women (P < 0.005). The mean increments of plasma ACTH and cortisol in response to CRH injection in those 13 patients were 21 ± 5 pg/ml and 5.3 ± 1.7 μg/dl, respectively, significantly lower than those in normal women (58 ± 6 pg/ml and 15.3 ± 7.7 μg/dl, respectively; P< 0.005). When 4 patients were reexamined after weight gains of between 3 and 22 kg, their responses to the CRH injection increased. The mean concentration of immunoreactive CRH in the cerebrospinal fluid of seven patients was 30.8 ± 3.9 pg/ml (± SEM), which was higher than the value of 18.4 ±1.1 pg/ml (P<0.005) in control subjects with cervical spondylosis. These findings suggest the possibility that hypersecretion of CRH may occur in patients with anorexia nervosa.