Increased Waking Salivary Cortisol Levels in Young People at Familial Risk of Depression

Abstract

Hypersecretion of cortisol can be detected in asymptomatic individuals at genetic risk of depression and may represent an illness endophenotype. Further studies will be needed to find out if increased waking salivary cortisol levels can predict individual risk of illness and whether the increased cortisol secretion has implications for general health and cognitive function.

Gender as a determinant of responses to a self-screening questionnaire on anxiety and depression by patients with coronary artery disease

“…In contrast, cortisol hypersecretion is regarded as a marker of major depressive disorder (MDD) that remits with clinical improvement. 39 The statistically significant positive correlation between the HADS depression scale and the salivary cortisol levels in men (P < 0.05) would suggest that the HADS depression scale is more sensitive in measuring symptoms of depression that are associated with disturbances in HPA-axis activity. It will be important to further explore why this finding was limited to men.…”

“…Although hypercortisolemia is an often-cited marker for MDD, it is only observed in ~50% of patients with MDD. 39 Earlier studies of the HPA axis and depression did not adequately address gender differences. In a 1997 review of the international experiences with the HADS, Herrmann 15 noted that when gender differences were addressed (10 of the 200 studies reviewed), women consistently scored higher than men on the HADS anxiety scale, whereas no significant gender differences were found "in most studies" using the HADS depression scale.…”

Familial Risk for Mood Disorder and the Personality Risk Factor, Neuroticism, Interact in Their Association with Frontolimbic Serotonin 2A Receptor Binding

“…The interaction between neuroticism and familial risk in predicting frontolimbic 5-HT 2A receptor binding may be genetically based, and/or be related to disturbances in serotonin homeostasis, and to increased stress reactivity, which is possibly associated with both neuroticism (Portella et al, 2005) and familial risk of developing mood disorder (Mannie et al, 2007;Modell et al, 1998). Such relations may be established in early brain development (Gaspar et al, 2003).…”

Not fade away: the HPA axis and depression

“…However, the increase in waking salivary cortisol found in acutely depressed patients seems to have trait-like characteristics. For example, secretion is elevated in patients recovered from depression and is also abnormally high in people with no personal history of the disorder but who are at increased risk because of high neuroticism scores or a parental history of depression (Bhagwagar et al 2003 ;Portella et al 2005 ;Mannie et al 2007). …”