Comparison of short-term (saliva) and long-term (hair) cortisol levels in out-patients with melancholic and non-melancholic major depression

Herane-Vives, Andrés; Young, Allan H.; Wise, Toby; Aguirre, Juan; Angel, Valeria de; Arnone, Danilo; Papadopoulos, Andrew; Cleare, Anthony J.

doi:10.1192/bjo.2020.8

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…In all cases, experiencing greater levels of early or recent life stress increased levels of suspiciousness specifically in those presenting elevated HCC. These findings are consistent with previous evidence linking childhood trauma as well as recent stress with the HPA axis function, psychiatric illness in general ( Murphy et al, 2022 ) and psychosis in particular ( Faravelli et al, 2017 ; Aas et al, 2019 ; Herane-Vives et al, 2020 ). More so, results provide further support for the neural diathesis-stress model ( Walker et al, 2008 ) and extend findings to nonclinical expressions of psychosis liability.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

The moderating role of hair cortisol in the association of early and recent stress with stress-related phenotypes

Torrecilla

Barrantes‐Vidal

2023

Front. Psychol.

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BackgroundIncreased hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) have been found in clinical samples of schizophrenia, first episode psychosis and clinical risk for psychosis, but evidence of such is scarce in schizotypy. High HCC are supposed to reflect elevated chronic stress. However, HCC were not directly associated with adversity measures and stress-related phenotypes in previous research. This study tested whether HCC moderated the association between a comprehensive range of psychosocial stressors with several stress-related phenotypes in a sample of nonclinical young adults. It was expected that stressors, either distal (i.e., early-life) or recent, would be associated with subclinical features, particularly for those with elevated HCC, reflecting the effects of a potential biological sensitization to stress.MethodsThe sample comprised 132 nonclinical young adults belonging to the Barcelona Longitudinal Investigation of Schizotypy Study (BLISS). Participants completed a questionnaire of childhood adversity and two complementary measures of recent life events, tapping threatening vs. more general life events. Both the frequency and subjective impact (positive vs. negative) of general life events were also assessed. Psychotic (i.e., schizotypy, suspiciousness) and non-psychotic (i.e., depression, anxiety) subclinical features as well as appraisals of perceived stress were examined. Hierarchical linear regressions and simple slope analyses were computed.ResultsHCC moderated the effects of both early and recent stress on suspiciousness as well as the effects of recent life events on perceived stress, such that those with higher HCC presented increased suspiciousness and perceived stress at higher levels of stress exposure. Positive, but not negative, recent life events were associated with decreased perceived stress and depression, and these associations were moderated by low HCC, indicating a buffering effect for those with a non-impaired HPA axis.ConclusionIn line with the neural diathesis-stress model, results highlight the role of the interplay between the HPA axis and exposure to stressful experiences in exacerbating psychosis features and extend evidence to the nonclinical expression of the psychosis continuum. In addition, findings support the protective effect of positive experiences in decreasing stress appraisals and affective disturbances, which is consistent with emerging research about the relevance of positive factors in reducing the likelihood of psychopathological outcomes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

The moderating role of hair cortisol in the association of early and recent stress with stress-related phenotypes

Torrecilla

Barrantes‐Vidal

2023

Front. Psychol.

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“…It must be stated that the temporality between cortisol dysregulation and psychological manifestation remains largely misunderstood and may take longer than three months to associate fully. However, other teams also reported no prediction of depressive symptoms through hair cortisol levels ( Dowlati et al, 2010 , Gerritsen et al, 2019 , Herane-Vives et al, 2020a , Herane-Vives et al, 2018 , Herane-Vives et al, 2020b , Herane-Vives et al, 2020c , Kuehl et al, 2015 , Mayer et al, 2018 , Psarraki et al, 2021 , Steudte-Schmiedgen et al, 2017 ). Another explanation for the absence of association between cortisol change and PTSD, anxiety, and depression can be that cortisol may not be an important pathophysiological mechanism underlying these disorders.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hair cortisol change at COVID-19 pandemic onset predicts burnout among health personnel

Marcil

Cyr

Marin

et al. 2022

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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Background The COVID-19 pandemic has put chronic pressure on worldwide healthcare systems. While the literature regarding the prevalence of psychological distress and associated risk factors among healthcare workers facing COVID-19 has exploded, biological variables have been mostly overlooked. Methods 467 healthcare workers from Quebec, Canada, answered an electronic survey covering various risk factors and mental health outcomes three months after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of them, 372 (80%) provided a hair sample, providing a history of cortisol secretion for the three months preceding and following the pandemic's start. We used multivariable regression models and a receiver operating characteristic curve to study hair cortisol as a predictor of burnout and psychological health, together with individual, occupational, social, and organizational factors. Results As expected, hair cortisol levels increased after the start of the pandemic, with a median relative change of 29% ( IQR = 3% - 59%, p <0.0001). There was a significant association between burnout status and change in cortisol, with participants in the second quarter of change having lower odds of burnout. No association was found between cortisol change and post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression symptoms. Adding cortisol to individual-occupational-socio-organizational factors noticeably enhanced our burnout logistic regression model’s predictability. Conclusion Change in hair cortisol levels predicted burnout at three months in health personnel at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This non-invasive biological marker of the stress response could be used in further clinical or research initiatives to screen high-risk individuals to prevent and control burnout in health personnel facing an important stressor.

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“…Nonetheless, when examining the long-term activity of the HPA axis assessing HCC in depressed patients, results are unclear. A recent meta-analysis by Psarraki and colleagues (10) shows that most studies found no significant differences in HCC between Major Depression Disorder (MDD) patients and controls (11)(12)(13), although one study (14) showed higher HCC and two studies (15,16) found lower HCC in MDD patients. Nonetheless, higher levels of HCC were found in first episode compared to recurrent depression (17,18) or when there is comorbidity between MDD and an anxiety disorder (19).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the Relationship Between Hair Cortisol With Stress-Related and Transdiagnostic Subclinical Measures

Torrecilla

Barrantes‐Vidal

2021

Front. Psychiatry

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Background: Hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) provide a retrospective examination of long-term cortisol production as a measure of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning, one of the major neural systems implicated in mediating the effects of stress on mental illness. However, evidence about the relationship between HCC with stressors and symptoms is scattered. In the present study, we aimed to examine the association between HCC and a wide range of stress-related and transdiagnostic subclinical measures in a sample of non-clinical young adults with a wide distribution of schizotypy.Methods: A total sample of 132 non-clinical young adults recruited at college and technical schools oversampled for schizotypy scores were assessed on distal and proximal stressful experiences, appraisals of stress, traits and symptoms of the affective, psychosis and dissociation spectrums, as well as stress-buffering measures, and provided 3 cm-hair samples.Results: No significant associations were found between HCC and any of the stress-related and subclinical measures. Only suspiciousness and disorganization showed a trend for a positive association with HCC but the magnitude was small.Conclusions: The present findings support previous studies indicating an overall lack of concordance between a broad range of stress-related and (sub)clinical phenotypic measures with hair cortisol. This study examined for the first time the relationship of HCC with the non-clinical expression of the psychosis spectrum, that is, schizotypy, which complements previous studies on clinical high risk and established psychosis and offers a promising strategy for studying possible HPA dysfunctions characterizing the subclinical psychosis continuum without the confounds associated to clinical psychosis.

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Comparison of short-term (saliva) and long-term (hair) cortisol levels in out-patients with melancholic and non-melancholic major depression

Cited by 11 publications

References 57 publications

The moderating role of hair cortisol in the association of early and recent stress with stress-related phenotypes

The moderating role of hair cortisol in the association of early and recent stress with stress-related phenotypes

Hair cortisol change at COVID-19 pandemic onset predicts burnout among health personnel

Examining the Relationship Between Hair Cortisol With Stress-Related and Transdiagnostic Subclinical Measures

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