• José Boto, Nurten Ceren Askin, Alice Regnaud, Tobias Kober, Georgios Gkinis, François Lazeyras, Karl-Olof Lövblad, and Maria Isabel Vargas.
• Division of Neuroradiology, Geneva University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
• J Neuroimaging. 2019 Sep 1; 29 (5): 598-604.

Background And PurposeChanges in the brain composition of anorexics could potentially be expected, opening the door to new imaging approaches where quantitative and qualitative MRI have a role. Our purpose was to investigate anorexia-related brain dehydration and myelin depletion by analyzing T1, T2, and T2* relaxation times of different brain structures in anorexics and controls.MethodsThirty-eight anorexic female patients (mean age, 26.2 years; age range, 16.2-48.7 years; mean BMI, 14.5 kg/m2 ; BMI range, 10.0-18.4 kg/m2 ) underwent brain MRI between August 2014 and August 2018. Controls were 16 healthy females (mean age, 28.0 years; age range, 22.3-34.7 years; mean BMI, 20.9 kg/m2 ; BMI range, 18.4-26.6 kg/m2 ). T1, T2, and T2* relaxation times were obtained for different brain structures in anorexics and controls as part of this retrospective case-control study.ResultsThe T1 relaxation times of gray and white matter were significantly lower in anorexics (P = .009), whereas the T2 relaxation times of gray matter were higher (P < .001). There were no statistically significant differences in gray matter T2* relaxation times or in white matter T2 and T2* relaxation times between anorexics and controls. Occipital lobe gray matter showed the shortest T1, T2, and T2* relaxation times of all brain regions (P < .05).ConclusionsT1 shortening in anorexics suggests both dehydration and myelin loss, whereas T2 prolongation points toward myelin loss (myelin water has lower T2), which seems to be less discernible in white matter. Shorter overall relaxation times in the most posterior regions of the brain suggest higher iron content.© 2019 by the American Society of Neuroimaging.

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