Gut Hormones Normalize After Short-Term Refeeding in Anorexia Nervosa | Research

The takeaway

Circulating gut hormones (ghrelin, GLP-1, PYY, GIP) showed characteristic alterations in anorexia nervosa that partially normalized after short-term refeeding, providing biomarkers for nutritional recovery.

Hormones track recovery
Gut peptide hormones provide objective biochemical markers of nutritional recovery in anorexia nervosa — more precise than weight alone

What the researchers found

AN gut hormone alterations (elevated ghrelin, altered GLP-1/PYY/GIP) partially normalize with short-term refeeding, providing biomarkers for nutritional recovery assessment.

Why it matters

Objective biomarkers for AN recovery are lacking. Gut hormone levels could track nutritional rehabilitation more objectively than weight alone.

How the study worked

Measurement of circulating gut hormones in AN patients before and after short-term refeeding, with comparison to healthy controls.

What this study cannot tell us

Short-term refeeding. Full hormonal normalization may take longer. Small sample implied.

How to read the evidence

Clinical gut hormone study in AN.

When this study was published

Published in 2025.

The bigger picture

Gut peptide hormone profiling in eating disorders could enable precision nutritional rehabilitation guided by objective biochemical markers.

Questions still open

Do fully recovered AN patients have normal gut hormone levels?
Could gut hormone measurement guide refeeding protocols?
Would GLP-1 modification worsen or help AN outcomes?

Common questions

What happens to hunger hormones in anorexia?

Ghrelin (hunger) increases while other gut hormones change abnormally. These alterations partly explain the disordered appetite in AN and begin to normalize with proper nutrition.

Can blood tests track anorexia recovery?

This study suggests yes — gut hormone levels change with refeeding and could provide objective markers of nutritional recovery beyond just weight measurement.

Read the original research

Circulating levels of gut hormones in anorexia nervosa before and after short-term weight restoration.

Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry, 144, 111576

View on PubMed ↗Publisher’s paper ↗

Citation

Kolb, Theresa; Licht, Louisa; Tam, Friederike I; Stender, Evelina M; Ohme, Michaela; Borsini, Alessandra; Ehrlich, Stefan; Perakakis, Nikolaos. (2026). Circulating levels of gut hormones in anorexia nervosa before and after short-term weight restoration.. Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry, 144, 111576. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2025.111576