Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatryDec 6, 2025

Gut Hormones in Anorexia Nervosa: Effects of Weight Restoration

GLP-1 Therapies Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Jan 1, 2026

Abstract

GIP levels were higher by 42.9% in patients with anorexia nervosa compared to healthy controls.

In patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), fasting glucose and insulin levels were lower by 8.4% and 42.6%, respectively, compared to healthy controls.
After short-term weight restoration, GIP, GLP-1, and glicentin levels decreased by 30.4%, 9.7%, and 15.7%, respectively, while only GIP returned to normal levels.
Increased GIP levels in patients with AN were positively associated with disordered eating and depressive symptoms, regardless of body mass index standard deviation score (BMI-SDS).
Changes in GIP levels post-weight restoration negatively correlated with changes in glucose levels, suggesting a relationship between GIP and glucose metabolism in AN.

Simplified

Gastrointestinal hormones such as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), gastric inhibitory peptide (GIP), glucagon, and glicentin are important regulators of appetite and glucose homeostasis. While agonists of GLP-1 and GIP receptors are approved treatments for type 2 diabetes and obesity, their role in anorexia nervosa (AN) remains largely unknown. In this study, we measured fasting serum levels of GLP-1, GIP, glucagon, and glicentin in 80 female patients with AN before (acAN-T1) and after short-term weight restoration (acAN-T2) compared to 80 age-matched female healthy controls (HC). GIP levels were higher (42.9%) in acAN-T1 than in HC, while GLP-1, glicentin, and glucagon showed no group differences. Additionally, acAN-T1 patients exhibited lower fasting glucose (-8.4%) and insulin (-42.6%) levels than HC. In acAN-T2, GIP, GLP-1, and glicentin levels decreased (-30.4%, -9.7%, -15.7 %, respectively), with only GIP normalizing. Glucose and insulin levels increased (4.5% and 41.4%, respectively), although they remained lower than in HC. Importantly, changes in GIP levels after short-term weight restoration negatively correlated (r = -0.279) with changes in glucose levels. Furthermore, GIP levels in acAN-T1 were positively associated with disordered eating and depressive symptoms, independent of BMI-SDS. These results reveal that GIP shows a distinct pattern of dysregulation and normalization in AN and link GIP levels to both glucose metabolism and symptom severity in AN. Thus, our findings support the rationale for investigating GIP receptor-targeted therapies in AN.

Full Text

Full text is available at the source.

View Full Text ↗

Funding

Competing interests

Declaration of competing interest FIT and SE have received research grants from the “Marga and Walter Boll-Stiftung” and the B. Braun Stiftung. FIT has received funding from the Medical Faculty of the Technische Universität Dresden (“Habilitation Funding for Women”). AB has received research funding from Johnson & Johnson for research on depression and inflammation which included cellular work (2012–2018), but this work is unrelated to that funding. NP reports consulting fees from Bayer Vital GmbH, support from attending meetings and/or travel from Lilly and Novo Nordisk, speaker honoraria from Novo Nordisk, Lilly, APOGEPHA, GWT-TUD, Transmedac Innovations AG, Elbe-Gesundsheizszentrum GmbH, DACH, Intercom and honorarium as Guest Editor of Open Exploration outside the submitted work.

PubMed

Gut Hormones in Anorexia Nervosa: Effects of Weight Restoration

Abstract

Full Text

Funding

Competing interests

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

What Lands in Your Inbox Each Week:

Recent issues from the glp-1 therapies brief

Abstract

Full Text

Funding

Competing interests

Related papers

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

What Lands in Your Inbox Each Week:

Recent issues from the glp-1 therapies brief