Diurnal profiles of DHEAS and cortisol/DHEAS-ratio remain equally altered in between depressive episodes, and may predict future recurrence, which suggests they represent an endophenotypic vulnerability trait rather than a state-effect, which provides a new road to understand recurrent depression and its prevention.
It is suggested that 5-HTTLPR-related differences, when present, may be more detectable in overall post-awakening cortisol output than in baseline-relative increase, which is more detectable in overall post-awakening cortisol output than in baseline-relative increase.
R. Jonassen, Ø. Øverli, E. Hilland et al.· Comprehensive Psychoneuroend...· 0 citations
OBJECTIVES
Cortisol dysregulation, reflective of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation, has been linked to executive functioning (EF) decline. However, substantial effect-size heterogeneity across studies highlights the potential role of psychosocial moderators. We investigated whether the severity of perceived daily stressors and chronic worry moderated the relationships between baseline cortisol dysregulation and 9-year EF.
METHODS
Community adults (N = 1,617) completed four-day, four-times-daily salivary cortisol sampling and an eight-day interview-driven daily diary at baseline. Three cortisol metrics were computed: area under the curve (AUC), cortisol awakening response (CAR), and diurnal cortisol slope (DCS). Linear mixed models determined whether daily stressor or chronic worry severity moderated associations between baseline cortisol metrics and 9-year EF, adjusting for baseline EF.
RESULTS
Daily stressor severity significantly moderated the relationship between DCS-but not AUC or CAR-and 9-year EF (Cohen's d = 0.113). Flatter DCS was associated with poorer EF across all stressor severity levels, although the observed numerical attenuation at higher severity was not statistically confirmed. Chronic worry severity was significantly associated with lower 9-year EF across all cortisol metrics and significantly moderated the CAR-to-EF relationship (d = -0.176). Exploratory analyses suggested that a flatter DCS was associated with worse EF at higher worry severity, but this interaction was not significant.
DISCUSSION
These outcomes broadly align with moderation, not mediation, suggesting that psychosocial stress and worry can amplify, rather than yield, cortisol-linked relationships with EF. Pending replication, HPA-axis circadian modulation and chronic worry severity can indicate viable targets for prevention research.
N. Zainal, Stephanie Noble· The journals of gerontology....· 0 citations
Nonlinear interactions between cortisol indices and daily stressor severity appear to predict 9-year alcohol use disorder and substance use disorder severity, with cortisol area under the curve emerging as the most robust indicator.
N. Zainal, Natalia Van Doren· Addiction· 0 citations
Objectives: Emotion dysregulation is a core component of bipolar disorder (BD). However, there is a critical gap concerning the measurement of emotion-relevant neuroendocrine processes in this population. Methods: The present investigation examined neuroendocrine profiles (i.e., cortisol and testosterone) alongside emotional experiences across three consecutive days in naturalistic settings among adults with bipolar I disorder (n = 28) compared to a clinical comparison group of adults with a history of major depressive disorder (MDD; n = 28) and healthy non-psychiatric controls (n = 27). Results: The BD group exhibited decreased cortisol concentrations throughout the day, lower overall hormone output, and smaller awakening responses when compared to MDD, and flatter slopes compared to both MDD and control groups. The BD group did not differ from either group in any diurnal testosterone measures. Groups did not differ in mean positive and negative daily emotion ratings, but the BD group reported greater positive and negative variability, and the MDD group greater NA variability, than the control group. Conclusions: Despite similar emotion experiences during daily living, participants with BD exhibited decreased cortisol slopes relative to those with depression and controls. Cortisol levels across all measures in MDD were comparable to controls. Findings suggest the link between cortisol and mood is complex, and decreased cortisol profiles may be a marker of bipolar mood disorders.
June Gruber, K. Welker, John R. Purcell et al.· Journal of Emotion and Psych...· 0 citations
Whether pubertal timing across the ages of 8–15.5 years was associated with diurnal cortisol slope, the cortisol awakening response, total morning cortisol, and total daily cortisol output at the age of 15.5 years was sought.
Background/Objectives: Glucocorticoids have been shown to improve fear extinction learning in preclinical and human studies. We hypothesized an impact of the circadian rhythm of cortisol on exposure therapy in patients with anxiety spectrum disorders. Methods: Sixteen patients suffering from obsessive–compulsive disorder and eight with agoraphobia participated in a pilot randomized prospective cohort study. During two therapist-guided sessions of exposure therapy with response prevention, both starting either at 08:00 (morning group) or at 16:00 (late afternoon group), subjective units of distress (SUD) and salivary cortisol levels were assessed repeatedly. Results: While expected significant diurnal differences in salivary cortisol emerged between daytime groups, after controlling for chronotype, no significant differences were detected in our exposure process indicators of within-session and between-session habituation and distress-related expectancy violation towards maximal SUD and SUD at end. Nearly one-hundred subjects in each group would be needed to gain statistically significant daytime differences for these indicators as per case number estimation. Conclusions: Our preliminary results from this transdiagnostic sample do not provide support for scheduling exposure sessions in the morning. Further research should consider cortisol administration before exposure sessions to test whether different doses of exogenous glucocorticoids can augment exposure therapy outcomes.
Michael Kellner, Maja Santai Mareljic, A. Yassouridis· Journal of Clinical Medicine· 0 citations
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