The DOI matches its Crossref record; 84 of the 84 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Epigenetics in eating disorders: a systematic review
Open accessAbstract
Eating disorders are complex heritable conditions influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Given the progress of genomic discovery in anorexia nervosa, with the identification of the first genome-wide significant locus, as well as animated discussion of epigenetic mechanisms in linking environmental factors with disease onset, our goal was to conduct a systematic review of the current body of evidence on epigenetic factors in eating disorders to inform future directions in this area. Following PRISMA guidelines, two independent authors conducted a search within PubMed and Web of Science and identified 18 journal articles and conference abstracts addressing anorexia nervosa (n = 13), bulimia nervosa (n = 6), and binge-eating disorder (n = 1), published between January 2003 and October 2017. We reviewed all articles and included a critical discussion of field-specific methodological considerations. The majority of epigenetic analyses of eating disorders investigated methylation at candidate genes (n = 13), focusing on anorexia and bulimia nervosa in very small samples with considerable sample overlap across published studies. Three studies used microarray-based technologies to examine DNA methylation across the genome of anorexia nervosa and binge-eating disorder patients. Overall, results were inconclusive and were primarily exploratory in nature. The field of epigenetics in eating disorders remains in its infancy. We encourage the scientific community to apply methodologically sound approaches using genome-wide designs including epigenome-wide association studies (EWAS), to increase sample sizes, and to broaden the focus to include all eating disorder types.
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Citations
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Metadata
- Authors
- Hübel, C., Marzi, S. J., Breen, G., & Bulik, C. M.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- Queen Mary University of London (GB)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- Corresponding author
- Bulik, Cynthia M.
- Venue
- Molecular Psychiatry
- Published
- 2018-10-23
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 901-915
- ISSN
- 1359-4184 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-5578
- PMC
- PMC6544542
- OpenAlex
- W2896204269
- Cited by
- 116
- References
- 84
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 1.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Molecular Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Spiral (Imperial College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Vetenskapsrådet (538-2013-8864)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Epigenetics and DNA Methylation
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
- Keywords
- epigenetics, eating disorders, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, DNA methylation, candidate genes, epigenome-wide association study, genome-wide association study, heritability, environmental risk factors
- MeSH terms
- Anorexia Nervosa, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Humans, DNA Methylation, Epigenesis, Genetic, Bulimia Nervosa, Epigenomics
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