Frontiers in endocrinology
Sphingolipid signatures at the extremes of energy balance: a comparative study of obesity and anorexia nervosa in women
By Rigamonti AE, Morano C, Dei Cas M and 9 others.
Abstract
Background
Anorexia nervosa (AN) and obesity (OB) represent opposite extremes of energy balance and are both associated with profound metabolic alterations. Increasing evidence suggests that sphingolipids play a central role in cardiometabolic regulation, inflammation, and insulin signaling; however, clinical sphingolipidomic studies have largely investigated AN and OB separately. Direct comparative studies using a harmonized analytical framework are currently lacking.
Objectives
The primary objective of this study was to determine whether women with AN or OB exhibit distinct plasma sphingolipidomic signatures compared with a normal-weight healthy (NWH) group and with each other. Secondary objectives included identifying multivariate sphingolipid patterns associated with nutritional phenotype and evaluating associations between plasma sphingolipids and cardiometabolic parameters.