W Köpp, W F Blum, S von Prittwitz, A Ziegler, H Lübbert, G Emons, W Herzog, S Herpertz, H C Deter, H Remschmidt, J Hebebrand
Evidence that leptin plays an important role in reproductive function is accumulating rapidly. We hypothesized that low leptin synthesis is associated with amenorrhea. We therefore determined serum leptin levels in 43 underweight female students, who were screened for lifetime occurrence of amenorrhea. We assessed the predictive value of leptin, body mass index (BMI), fat mass and percent body fat, respectively, for lifetime occurrence of amenorrea. Factors predicting amenorrhea were tested for their capability to predict current amenorrhea in a second cohort of 63 inpatients with anorexia nervosa (AN) or bulimia nervosa (BN)...
July 1997: Molecular Psychiatry