Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Immediate Communication
  • Published:

Association of estrogen receptor β gene polymorphisms with bulimic disease in women

Molecular Psychiatry volume 9, pages 28–34 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

In this study, we explored the potential association between estrogen receptor β (ERβ) and disease in a group of bulimic women. Eating disorders are much more common in females than in males, suggesting a possible role for female sex hormone signalling in the pathogenesis of these diseases. Furthermore, estrogen has been implicated in appetite regulation. The occurrence of menstrual disturbances is also increased in bulimic women. We studied 76 bulimic women and 60 controls, and found an association between two common polymorphisms in the ERβ gene with disease in this group of bulimic women. More detailed characterisation of the ERβ gene identified a novel variant changing the primary structure of ERβ protein in one bulimic patient. An initial functional characterization of this variant did not reveal any differences compared to the wild-type protein. Our findings point towards a possible role of ERβ and/or neighboring genes in the etiology of disease in bulimic patients.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Andersen AE . Gender-related aspects of eating disorders: a guide to practice. J Gender Specif Med 1999; 2: 47–54.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Geary N . Estradiol, CCK and satiation. Peptides 2001; 22: 1251–1263.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Lindén A, Uvnäs-Moberg K, Forsberg G, Bednar I, Södersten P . Involvement of cholecystokinin in food intake: III, Oestradiol potentiates the inhibitory effect of cholecystokinin octapeptide on food intake in ovariectomized rats. J Neuroendocrinol 1990; 2: 797–801.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Eckel LA, Geary N . Endogenous cholecystokinin's satiating action increases during estrus in female rats. Peptides 1999; 20: 451–456.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Asarian L, Geary N . Cyclic estradiol treatment phasically potentiates endogenous cholecystokinin's satiating action in ovariectomized rats. Peptides 1999; 20: 445–450.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Gendall KA, Bulik CM, Joyce PR, McIntosh VV, Carter FA . Menstrual cycle irregularity in bulimia nervosa. Associated factors and changes with treatment. J Psychosom Res 2000; 49: 409–415.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Laflamme N, Nappi RE, Drolet G, Labrie C, Rivest S . Expression and neuropeptidergic characterization of estrogen receptors (ERalpha and ERbeta) throughout the rat brain: anatomical evidence of distinct roles of each subtype. J Neurobiol 1998; 36: 357–378.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Liang YQ, Akishita M, Kim S, Ako J, Hashimoto M, Iijima K et al. Estrogen receptor beta is involved in the anorectic action of estrogen. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2002; 26: 1103–1109.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Lilenfeld LR, Kaye W, Greeno C, Merikangas K, Plotnikov K, Pollice C et al. A controlled family study of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: psychiatric disorders in first-degree relatives and effects of proband comorbidity. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1998; 55: 603–610.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Strober M, Freeman R, Lampert C, Diamond J, Kaye W . Controlled family study of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: evidence of shared liability and transmission of partial syndromes. Am J Psychiatry 2000; 157: 393–401.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Bulik CM, Sullivan PF, Wade T, Kendler K . Twin studies of eating disorders: a review. Int J Eat Disord 2000; 27: 1–20.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Kendler KS, MacLean C, Neale MC, Kessler RC, Heath AC, Eaves LJ . The genetic epidemiology of bulimia nervosa. Am J Psychiatry 1991; 148: 1627–1637.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Bulik CM, Sullivan PF, Kendler KS . Heritability of binge-eating and broadly defined bulimia nervosa. Biol Psychiatry 1998; 44: 1210–1218.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Wade T, Neale MC, Lake RIE, Martin NG . A genetic analysis of the eating and attitudes associated with bulimia nervosa: dealing with the problem of ascertainment in twin studies. Behav Genet 1999; 29: 1–10.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Kortegaard LS, Hoerder K, Joergensen J, Gillberg C, Kyvik KO . A preliminary population-based twin study of self-reported eating disorder. Psychol Med 2001; 31: 361–365.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Rosenkranz K, Hinney A, Ziegler A, Hermann H, Fichter M, Mayer H et al. Systematic mutation screening of the estrogen receptor beta gene in probands of different weight extremes: identification of several genetic variants. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1998; 83: 4524–4527.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Ogawa S, Hosoi T, Shiraki M, Orimo H, Emi M, Muramatsu M et al. Association of estrogen receptor beta gene polymorphism with bone mineral density. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2000; 269: 537–541.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Ogawa S, Emi M, Shiraki M, Hosoi T, Ouchi Y, Inoue S . Association of estrogen receptor beta (ESR2) gene polymorphism with blood pressure. J Hum Genet 2000; 45: 327–330.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Sundarrajan C, Liao W, Roy AC, Ng SC . Association between estrogen receptor-beta gene polymorphisms and ovulatory dysfunctions in patients with menstrual disorders. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2001; 86: 135–139.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edn, revised. Washington, DC, American Psychiatric Association, 1994.

  21. Stephens M, Smith NJ, Donnelly P . A new statistical method for haplotype reconstruction from population data. Am J Hum Genet 2001; 68: 978–989.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Pritchard JK, Przeworski M . Linkage disequilibrium in humans: models and data. Am J Hum Genet 2001; 69: 1–14.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Bulik CM, Devlin B, Bacanu S-A, Thornton L, Klump KL, Fichter MM et al. Significant linkage on chromosome 10p in families with bulimia nervosa. Am J Hum Genet 2003; 72: 200–207.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosciences, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    M Nilsson, J-Å Gustafsson & K Dahlman-Wright

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

    S Naessén & A Lindén Hirschberg

  3. Department of Medicine, Huddinge University Hospital, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    I Dahlman

Authors
  1. M Nilsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S Naessén
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. I Dahlman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. A Lindén Hirschberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. J-Å Gustafsson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. K Dahlman-Wright
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M Nilsson.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nilsson, M., Naessén, S., Dahlman, I. et al. Association of estrogen receptor β gene polymorphisms with bulimic disease in women. Mol Psychiatry 9, 28–34 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001402

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001402

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links