Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Herane‐Vives, A.
• Angel, V.
• Papadopoulos, A.
• Wise, T.
• Chua, K.‐C.
• Strawbridge, R.
• Castillo, D.
• Arnone, D.
• Young, A. H.
• Cleare, A. J.

Titel

Short‐term and long‐term measures of cortisol in saliva and hair in atypical and non‐atypical depression

Ist Teil von

• Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica, 2018-03, Vol.137 (3), p.216-230

Ort / Verlag

United States: Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2018

Quelle

Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Background Atypical depression may show lowered rather than raised short‐term cortisol levels. Atypical major depressive episodes (A‐MDE) may also be more closely linked to environmental factors and show overlap with somatic symptom disorders. Hair specimens allow measuring long‐term cortisol levels. Methods Twenty‐seven A‐MDE and 44 NA‐MDE patients and 40 matched controls were tested. Measures of hair cortisol concentration [HCC] covering the previous 3 months and short‐term cortisol parameters (six saliva specimens to assess the cortisol awakening response [CAR] and total daily cortisol output calculated as the area under the curve [AUCg]) were taken alongside measures of environmental factors and clinical variables. Results There were no differences in HCC between the three groups (P = 0.8), and no difference in the CAR (P = 0.95). However, A‐MDE showed lowered short‐term cortisol output (AUCg) compared to controls (P = 0.04). A‐MDE patients also reported a higher number of daily hassles, and higher levels of fatigue and impaired concentration than NA‐MDE. Conclusions Normal long‐term (HCC) and reduced short‐term (AUCg) cortisol levels in A‐MDE could suggest a disrupted long‐term cortisol rhythm, perhaps affected by environmental factors or by certain symptoms, such as mid‐nocturnal insomnia. However, other underlying explanations for these findings should also be investigated in the future.