Relationship between salivary cortisol and progesterone levels in humans

Wirth, Mary J.; Meier, Elizabeth A.; Fredrickson, Barbara L.; Schultheiss, Oliver C.

doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.06.007

Cited by 68 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Findings also support extensive preclinical studies which have indicated that progesterone levels are elevated after a range of stressors in laboratory animals (Deis et al 1989;Schaeffer and Aron 1987;Shevchenko et al 2006) as well as human clinical studies which report increased levels of plasma and salivary cortisol and progesterone after metabolic stress (Breier and Buchanan 1992;Elman and Breier 1997;George et al 1994), fear of rejection (Wirth and Schultheiss 2006) and emotional distress in men as well as women taking hormonal contraceptives (Wirth et al 2007). …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Altered levels of sex and stress steroid hormones assessed daily over a 28-day cycle in early abstinent cocaine-dependent females

et al. 2007

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Rationale-There is growing evidence of alterations in brain stress and reward circuits associated with cocaine dependence. Sex differences are also documented and sex steroid hormones have been linked to cocaine reinforcement.Objectives-The current study therefore assessed daily fluctuations in stress and sex hormones in cocaine-dependent females compared with healthy females.Method-Daily salivary samples of cortisol, progesterone, and estradiol were collected at waking across 28 days from 12 cocaine-dependent females receiving inpatient treatment and 10 healthy females. Participants also completed mood-rating scales each week corresponding to four phases of the menstrual cycle and cocaine craving was monitored in cocaine patients at each phase.Results-Cocaine-dependent females in their first month of abstinence demonstrated significantly higher levels of both cortisol and progesterone across the menstrual cycle and significantly lower estradiol/progesterone (E2/P) ratios compared to healthy controls. They also showed significantly increased negative mood compared with controls, but no variation in cocaine craving across the menstrual cycle.Conclusions-Findings indicate altered stress and sex hormones suggestive of an overactive stress system during the first month of cocaine abstinence after chronic cocaine abuse. These increased levels of cortisol and progesterone could impact both abstinence-related symptoms such as negative mood and susceptibility to drug-seeking behavior in cocaine-dependent females.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Altered levels of sex and stress steroid hormones assessed daily over a 28-day cycle in early abstinent cocaine-dependent females

et al. 2007

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“…Progesterone, produced mainly in the ovaries of women and the adrenal glands of men, is one of the principal hormones underlying parental behavior (Mehta & Josephs, 2010;Wirth, Meier, Fredrickson, & Schultheiss, 2007). Progesterone has been implicated in the psychology of affiliation and in response to rejection.…”

Section: Progesteronementioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the Affiliation Hypothesis of Homoerotic Motivation in Humans: The Effects of Progesterone and Priming

2014

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The frequency of homoerotic behavior among individuals who do not identify as having an exclusively homosexual sexual orientation suggests that such behavior potentially has adaptive value. Here we define homoerotic behavior as intimate erotic contact between members of the same sex and affiliation as the motivation to make and maintain social bonds. Among both male and female nonhuman primates affiliation is one of the main drivers of homoerotic behavior.Correspondingly, in humans, both across cultures and across historical periods, homoerotic behavior appears to play a role in promoting social bonds. However, to date, the affiliation explanation of human homoerotic behavior has not been adequately tested experimentally. We developed a measure of homoerotic motivation with a sample of 244 men and women. Next, we found that, in women (n= 92), homoerotic motivation was positively associated with progesterone, a hormone that has been shown to promote affiliative bonding. Lastly, we explored the effects of affiliative contexts on homoerotic motivation in men (n=59), finding that men in an affiliative priming condition were more likely to endorse engaging in homoerotic behavior compared to those primed with neutral or sexual concepts, and this effect was more pronounced in men with high progesterone. These findings constitute the first experimental support for the affiliation account of the evolution of homoerotic motivation in humans.

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“…In addition to cortisol, there is a growing body of literature linking progesterone levels/responses to both stress and to affiliation and rejection ( Brown et al , 2009; Childs et al , 2010; Gettler et al , 2013; Maner et al , 2010; Schultheiss et al , 2003; Schultheiss et al , 2004; Wirth & Schultheiss, 2006; Wirth et al , 2007; Wirth, 2011). Progesterone is not only a gonadal hormone, but is also produced in the adrenal glands, and progesterone levels increase in response to pharmacological stimulation of the HPA axis ( Genazzani et al , 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress, rejection, and hormones: Cortisol and progesterone reactivity to laboratory speech and rejection tasks in women and men

Gaffey

Wirth

2014

F1000Res

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Stress and social rejection have important impacts on health. Among the mechanisms implicated are hormonal systems such as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which produces cortisol in humans. Current research employs speech stressors and social rejection stressors to understand hormonal responses in a laboratory setting. However, it is not clear whether social rejection stressors elicit hormonal reactivity. In addition to cortisol, progesterone has been highlighted as a potential stress- and affiliation-related hormone in humans. In the present study, 131 participants (70 men and 61 women) were randomly assigned to be exposed to one of four conditions: standardized speech stressor; speech control; social rejection task; or a control (inclusion) version of the social rejection task. Saliva samples were collected throughout the study to measure cortisol and progesterone. As hypothesized, we found the expected increase in cortisol in the speech stressor, and we also found that the social rejection task did not increase cortisol, underscoring the divergence between unpleasant experiences and HPA axis activity. However, we did not find evidence for progesterone increase either during the speech- or social rejection tasks. Compared with past studies on progesterone and stress in humans, the present findings present a mixed picture. Future work is needed to delineate the contexts and types of manipulations which lead to progesterone increases in humans.

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Relationship between salivary cortisol and progesterone levels in humans

Cited by 68 publications

References 19 publications

Altered levels of sex and stress steroid hormones assessed daily over a 28-day cycle in early abstinent cocaine-dependent females

Altered levels of sex and stress steroid hormones assessed daily over a 28-day cycle in early abstinent cocaine-dependent females

Testing the Affiliation Hypothesis of Homoerotic Motivation in Humans: The Effects of Progesterone and Priming

Stress, rejection, and hormones: Cortisol and progesterone reactivity to laboratory speech and rejection tasks in women and men

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