Impulsivity and Saliva Cortisol in Patients with Suicide Attempt and Controls

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study was to prove concepts in the characterization of suicidal patients and the possible usefulness of those markers to potentially identify patients with a higher risk for suicidality. Methods: Patients with a recent suicide attempt were compared with patients suffering from depression, adjustment disorder, anxiety, or eating disorders without suicidality, healthy controls and remitted patients with a history of at least 1 suicide attempt (≥1 year). We analyzed impulsivity (Barratt Impulsivity Scale, BIS) and saliva cortisol concentrations. Results: Independently of suicidality and disease state patients display higher BIS scores than healthy controls. Saliva cortisol levels tend to be higher in patients in the acute disease state than in remitted patients and healthy controls. Conclusions: Saliva cortisol may be a useful marker that reveals alterations in nonsuicidal patients suffering from depression, adjustment disorder, anxiety, or eating disorders who might be at risk.

Increased Levels of Cortisol in Individuals With Suicide Attempt and Its Relation With the Number of Suicide Attempts and Depression

“…On the other hand, we observed statistical differences when we analyzed the characteristics of the suicide attempt group associated with cortisol levels such as the presence or absence of depression. Significantly elevated cortisol levels were observed in the group of individuals who had attempted suicide, in comparison with the baseline cortisol levels of the healthy group, as some previous studies have recorded (23,27,33). Our results suggest that cortisol levels could be a phenotype of suicide attempters because of an alteration in the HPA axis, and this could be increased in the presence of depression or the number of suicide attempts.…”

Moderating effects of impulsivity and morning cortisol on the genotype‐phenotype relationship of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in young adults

“…The HPA axis is also associated with other neuropsychiatric conditions, such as mood and anxiety disorders since its dysfunction has been related to the origin and development of this type of illness (Choi et al., 2020; Tafet & Nemeroff, 2020). These relationships can also be affected by levels of impulsivity (Lewitzka et al., 2017): specifically, levels of motor impulsivity have shown significant discriminative ability between ADHD subtypes (Corominas‐Roso et al., 2015; Ramos‐Quiroga et al., 2016). According to the hypo‐arousal theory of ADHD, it is expected that low activation hinders motor preparation and control activities (Isaksson, 2014), increasing impulsivity scores for ADHD sufferers.…”

A Scoping Review and Preliminary Illustrative Analysis of Biomarkers in Stress-Related Psychiatric Illness: Diagnostic and Prognostic Implications

“…Specifically, 1 cm of hair segments can provide a retrospective assessment of cortisol levels over the previous 4 weeks, while 3 cm of hair strands can reflect cortisol levels over the previous 3 months. This approach takes into account the average hair growth rate of 1 centimeter per month [94] [95]. Cortisol levels were significantly higher in the group of persons who had tried suicide as compared to baseline cortisol levels in the healthy group, according to prior research [96].…”