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Possible involvement of autophagy in esophageal ulcers in anorexia nervosa

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Abstract

Although patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) present with various gastrointestinal disorders, little has been understood regarding the incidence and pathophysiology of gastrointestinal ulcers related to AN. A 20-year-old woman with a past history of AN was hospitalized for further examination of dysphagia and chest pain. Her nutritional status was very poor as evidenced by very low body mass index. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy detected longitudinal and geographical ulcers in the entire circumference of the cervical and upper esophagus. Enhanced expression of autophagy-related proteins, LC3B and p62, was seen in the esophageal epithelium surrounding the active ulcers. Expression of these autophagy markers disappeared from the esophageal epithelium soon after the nutritional rehabilitation. Given the fact that starvation and malnutrition are potent inducers for autophagy, these findings suggest that autophagy might be involved in the development of gastrointestinal ulcers in patients with AN.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kindai University Faculty of Medicine, 377-2 Ohno-Higashi, Osaka-Sayama, Osaka, 589-8511, Japan

    Sho Masaki, Tomohiro Watanabe, Kosuke Minaga, Ken Kamata, Yoriaki Komeda & Masatoshi Kudo

  2. Department of Diagnostic Pathology, Kindai University Hospital, Osaka-Sayama, Osaka, Japan

    Masatomo Kimura

Authors
  1. Sho Masaki
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  2. Tomohiro Watanabe
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  3. Kosuke Minaga
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  4. Ken Kamata
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  5. Yoriaki Komeda
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  6. Masatomo Kimura
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  7. Masatoshi Kudo
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Correspondence to Tomohiro Watanabe.

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Sho Masaki, Tomohiro Watanabe, Kosuke Minaga, Ken Kamata, Yoriaki Komeda, Masatomo Kimura, and Masatoshi Kudo declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures followed have been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

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Masaki, S., Watanabe, T., Minaga, K. et al. Possible involvement of autophagy in esophageal ulcers in anorexia nervosa. Clin J Gastroenterol 13, 473–476 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12328-019-01089-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12328-019-01089-0

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