A Framework for Elucidating Causes and Consequences of Malnutrition in Anorexia Nervosa

Abstract Anorexia nervosa (AN) has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disease, and there are no effective treatments. A major obstacle to identifying new therapeutic targets is the lack of insight into causes of pathophysiological eating behavior. Malnutrition and comorbid psychiatric illnesses cause dramatic changes in the brain and periphery that complicate efforts to uncover factors responsible for disease onset. Biological, genetic, psychosocial, and behavioral variables associated with increased AN risk provide insight into the prodromal phase prior to disease conversion. However, the critical involvement of psychosocial risk factors has been an impediment to developing reliable animal models that approximate the human disease. In this chapter, we provide an overview of risk factors for and consequences of the disease in humans and then discuss progress in developing animal models that recapitulate one or more of these characteristics.