leptin and Psychophysiologic-Disorders

To determine trigger factors and neuropsychologic correlates of functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA) in adolescence and to evaluate the correlations with the endocrine-metabolic profile.. Cross-sectional comparison of adolescents with FHA and eumenorrheic controls. Academic medical institution. Twenty adolescent girls with FHA (aged <18 years) and 20 normal cycling girls. All subjects underwent endocrine-gynecologic (hormone) and neuropsychiatric (tests and interview) investigations. A separate semistructured interview was also used to investigate parents.. Gonadotropins, leptin, prolactin, androgens, estrogens, cortisol, carrier proteins (SHBG, insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 1), and metabolic parameters (insulin, insulin-like growth factor 1, thyroid hormones) were assayed in FHA and control subjects. All girls were evaluated using a test for depression, a test for disordered eating, and a psychodynamic semistructured interview.. Adolescents with FHA showed a particular susceptibility to common life events, restrictive disordered eating, depressive traits, and psychosomatic disorders. The endocrine-metabolic profile was strictly correlated to the severity of the psychopathology.. Functional hypothalamic amenorrhea in adolescence is due to a particular neuropsychologic vulnerability to stress, probably related to familial relationship styles, expressed by a proportional endocrine impairment.

Topics: Adolescent; Amenorrhea; Anxiety; Body Mass Index; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depression; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Female; Gonadal Steroid Hormones; Gonadotropins; Hormones; Humans; Hydrocortisone; Hypothalamic Diseases; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 1; Leptin; Psychophysiologic Disorders; Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin; Stress, Psychological

During Ramadan, adult Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. We frequently encounter young pregnant Muslim women with hyperemesis gravidarum who fast during this holy month. We have investigated whether there is an association between the prolonged fasting during Ramadan and excessive vomiting during pregnancy. Possible psychologic and physiologic explanations are presented and discussed.

Topics: Fasting; Female; Humans; Hyperemesis Gravidarum; Islam; Israel; Leptin; Pregnancy; Psychophysiologic Disorders; Religion and Medicine