Search results for "Adrenal axis"
showing 10 items of 17 documents
Cortisol levels and seizures in adults with epilepsy: A systematic review
2018
Stress has been suggested as a trigger factor for seizures in epilepsy patients, but little is known about cortisol levels, as indicators of stress, in adults with epilepsy. This systematic review summarizes the evidence on this topic. Following PRISMA guidelines, 38 articles were selected: 14 analyzing basal cortisol levels, eight examining antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) effects, 13 focused on seizure effects, and three examining stress. Higher basal cortisol levels were found in patients than in healthy people in studies with the most homogeneous samples (45% of 38 total studies). Despite heterogeneous results associated with AEDs, seizures were related to increases in cortisol levels in 77% …
Comparison of Cortisol Stress Response in Patients with Panic Disorder, Cannabis-Induced Panic Disorder, and Healthy Controls
2018
<b><i>Background/Aims:</i></b> Little research effort has so far been dedicated to the analysis of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis of aetiologically differing subgroups of patients with panic disorder (PD). The current study aimed at a deeper understanding of the cortisol stress response in cannabis-induced PD (CIPD) patients. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Matched groups of 7 PD patients (mean age ± SD: 32.95 ± 9.04 years), 7 CIPD patients (31.94 ± 8.40 years), and 7 healthy controls (HC) (31.13 ± 8.57 years) were included in the study. The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was used for stress induction. Salivary cortisol samples were collected…
Enhanced inflammatory and T-helper-1 type responses but suppressed lymphocyte proliferation in patients with seasonal affective disorder and treated …
2015
Abstract Background Animals show seasonal changes in the endocrine and immune system in response to winter stressors. Even though increased inflammation has been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression, whether immune disorder is a key mediator in seasonal affective depression (SAD) is unknown. Here, we hypothesized that short photoperiods in winter may induce inflammatory response, which contributes to SAD, and that light treatments should normalize immune function and improve depressive symptoms. Methods Twenty patients with a diagnosis of SAD, and a score on the HAM-29 of 20 or higher were recruited for this study. Twenty-one healthy subjects with no personal and family history o…
Cortisol response to stress in caregivers of offspring with autism spectrum disorder is associated with care recipient characteristics.
2013
Providing care for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is particularly stressful and frequently associated with disturbances in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis of the caregiver. This study examined whether the stress response is modulated by factors such as age of the care recipient and number of years spent by the caregiver in providing care for the ASD individual. Caregivers of children (n = 15), adolescents (n = 12), and adults (n = 11) with ASD were exposed to two episodes of acute psychosocial stressor in a 1 day session. Salivary cortisol samples were obtained before, during, and after the stressor episodes. Psychological characteristics (states of anxiety, anger,…
Blunted cortisol response to stress in patients with eating disorders: Its association to bulimic features
2017
ObjectiveClinical research on cortisol response to stress in patients with eating disorders has provided controversial and even contradictory results. As this might be the consequence of the inclusion in the studies of heterogeneous clinical populations, 3 highly selected samples were studied. MethodsDexamethasone suppression test was performed on 15 restricting anorexia nervosa patients without history of bulimia nervosa (BN), 17 BN patients with normal weight and no history of anorexia nervosa, and 22 healthy controls. Three days later, the Trier Social Stress Test was applied, and 8 saliva samples were collected along the trial for cortisol assessment. ResultsWhen the patients were consi…
Cortisol and the aging brain: Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and cognitive performance in older people.
2015
One of the greatest achievements in modern society is the increase in life expectancy. This increment is so great that children born after 2011 have a one in three chance of reaching their 100th birthday, and specifically in Europe, a quarter of the population will be over 60 years of age by 2020 (European Commission, 2014). This is an important change in society that is occurring for the first time in human history and producing new challenges that need to be addressed, especially those concerning age-related health problems. In this regard, one of the main aims of new research programs, such as Horizon 2020 in Europe, is to increase the possibilities of keeping older people healthy and in…
Personality and Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal Axis in Older Men and Women
2020
Personality has been related to health and mortality risk, which has created interest in the biological pathways that could explain this relationship. Although a dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been associated with health outcomes and aging, few studies have explored the association between personality and HPA axis functioning in older adults. In addition, it has been suggested that sex could moderate the relationship between personality and HPA axis functioning. Thus, our aim was to analyze the relationship between the big five personality traits and the diurnal cortisol pattern in older adults, as well as sex differences in this relationship. To do so, 7…
Interoceptive Abilities in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and Irritable Bowel Syndrome
2020
International audience; Alexithymia is usually described by three main dimensions difficulty identifying feelings (DIF), difficulty describing feelings (DDF), and externally oriented thinking (EOT). The most commonly used questionnaire investigating alexithymia, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), supports this three-factor structure. One important assumption is that alexithymia severity is associated to vulnerability to somatic diseases, among them gastrointestinal disorders. However, the association between alexithymia and gastrointestinal disorders is not systematic, thus questioning the role of alexithymia as a vulnerability factor for those illnesses. A recent factor analysis sugge…
Neuroendocrine responses in neonatal mother-deprived rabbits.
2009
To study both short- and long-term adaptation mechanisms activated by rabbits which were separated from their mothers (DLS) for 48 h between postnatal days 9 and 11, we examined plasma corticosterone concentrations before, during, and after DLS as well as the expression of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in the hippocampus and the adrenal axis responses to a mild stress stimuli or exogenous ACTH injection. At postnatal day 10, plasma corticosterone concentration of DLS rabbits was similar to that of controls, but rose two-fold at day 11 (17.7 + or - 1.3 vs. 9.3 + or - 1.2 microg/dl, P0.01) and then decreased at day 12, when suckling was allowed again, to match those of controls with no differe…
The Relationship between COVID-19 and Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis: A Large Spectrum from Glucocorticoid Insufficiency to Excess-The CAPISCO I…
2022
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly heterogeneous disease regarding severity, vulnerability to infection due to comorbidities, and treatment approaches. The hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis has been identified as one of the most critical endocrine targets of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that might significantly impact outcomes after infection. Herein we review the rationale for glucocorticoid use in the setting of COVID-19 and emphasize the need to have a low index of suspicion for glucocorticoid-induced adrenal insufficiency, adjusting for the glucocorticoid formulation used, dose, treatment duration, and underlying health problems. We a…