A Danish research investigated the link between anorexia and the intestine, or rather between the disease and the intestinal microbiota. The anorexic patients analyzed by researchers at the University of Copenhagen had a different composition of their microbiota compared to that of other girls without eating disorders.
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What is the microbiota?
The microbiota is a collection of bacteria, viruses and fungi that are inside the intestine. It can weigh between one and a half kilos. They help us feel good and we feed them. There is a profitable exchange when everything works well. The Mediterranean diet is also perfect for the microbiota, such as exercising, not drinking alcohol and not smoking.
The study involved 77 Danish girls and young women affected by anorexia nervosa and 70 healthy peers. The results can be read in the scientific journal Nature Microbiology.
Link between anorexia and intestines: the causes of the disease are not yet fully known
“The genesis of anorexia is not known, so we don’t know the causes yet,” explains the doctor Federica Invernizzi, gastroenterologist and hepatologist at the IRCCS San Raffaele in Milan. “It is certainly a multifactorial disease: there is a genetic component, as has been demonstrated by some studies on twins, there is an environmental part and also a psychiatric part”
Researchers working at the Danish university have discovered that by transplanting the intestinal microbiota of anorexic patients into mice, they acquire some of the typical traits of anorexia. The hypothesis therefore is that alterations in the composition of bacteria and viruses present in the intestine have an influence on the development ofnervous anorexia.
Link between anorexia and the intestine already known
«It is a very interesting and objectively well conducted study – explains Invernizzi – which takes its cue from previous smaller research published on the subject. The microbiota influences many aspects of our life and seems to be implicated in the pathogenesis of many chronic diseases (such as neurodegenerative diseases and obesity). It doesn’t surprise me that it can also be involved in the pathogenesis of anorexia through, for example, the modulation of some hormone levels. To date, interest in the microbiota is limited almost exclusively to the scientific research field but it seems to have high potential in future clinical practice”.
Is there a role between mother and daughter?
According to research, the mother’s microbiota would influence that of her daughter. «The role of the mother-daughter relationship in the pathogenesis of anorexia – recalls the expert – is something well known. Psychotherapy itself thoroughly analyzes family relationships, especially with the mother. Also because a certain predisposition is known: a mother with a history of eating disorder problems is certainly a risk factor. The transmission of a certain type of microbiota could also be a cause. We know, in fact, that the microbiota is transmitted from the mother to the newborn. In this case we are only talking about mother-daughter, because the study only analyzed women, but we must remember that cases of anorexia are also growing among boys».
Link between anorexia and the intestine: will the treatments change now?
So will it change the way the medical world approaches anorexia? «We still need many years – warns Federica Invernizzi. – Data from a single study must be validated on a large scale. In fact, this study only considers women and from a specific geographical area. So we need to understand if the results will be confirmed on different case studies. It is a stimulus to study the subject and perhaps one day arrive at enhancing the treatment against anorexia by also acting on the microbiota. Already now in clinical practice, we prescribe lactic ferments to improve the intestinal symptoms of anorexic subjects, so there is already an innate awareness of the role of the microbiota and a desire to modify it even if, as we have said, without standardized protocols”.
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