The role of NMDA receptors in human eating behavior: evidence from a case of anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis.

Abstract

Research in animal models has implicated N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors (NMDARs) in the control of food intake. Until now, these findings have been not replicated in humans. Here we describe a 22-year-old woman with anti-NMDAR encephalitis and no prior neurological or psychiatric history. Her clinical course was marked by successive eating disorders: anorexia followed by hyperphagia. We propose that, much as they do in other animals, NMDARs in humans interact with the neuroendocrine, homeostatic, and reward systems controlling food intake in the central and peripheral nervous system structures related to feeding and satiety.

• Authors: Lampros Perogamvros, Armin Schnider, Beatrice Leemann
• Journal: Cognitive and behavioral neurology : official journal of the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology (Cogn Behav Neurol) Vol. 25 Issue 2 Pg. 93-7 (Jun 2012) ISSN: 1543-3641 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 22596107 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Autoantibodies
• Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate

Topics

• Anti-N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Encephalitis (diagnosis, physiopathology)
• Autoantibodies (blood, cerebrospinal fluid)
• Eating
• Feeding Behavior
• Female
• Humans
• Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate (physiology)
• Satiation
• Young Adult