The 5-HTTLPR genotype, early life adversity and cortisol responsivity to psychosocial stress in women

BackgroundThe serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) has previously been associated with hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis function. Moreover, it has been suggested that this association is moderated by an interaction with stressful life experiences.AimsTo investigate the moderation of cortisol response to psychosocial stress by 5-HTTLPR genotype, either directly or through an interaction with early life stress.MethodA total of 151 women, 85 of which had personality psychopathology, performed the Trier Social Stress Test while cortisol responsivity was assessed.ResultsThe results demonstrate a main effect of genotype on cortisol responsivity. Women carrying two copies of the long version of 5-HTTLPR exhibited stronger cortisol responses to psychosocial stress than women with at least one copy of the short allele (P = 0.03). However, the proportion of the variance of stress-induced cortisol responsivity explained by 5-HTTLPR genotype was not further strengthened by including early life adversity as a moderating factor (P = 0.52).ConclusionsOur results highlight the need to clarify gender-specific biological factors influencing the serotonergic system. Furthermore, our results suggest that childhood maltreatment, specifically during the first 15 years of life, is unlikely to exert a moderating influence of large effect on the relationship between the 5-HTTLPR genotype and cortisol responsivity to psychosocial stress.Declaration of interestNone.

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Early life stress moderated the influence of reward anticipation on acute psychosocial stress responses

Psychophysiology ◽

10.1111/psyp.13892 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Weiyu Hu ◽

Yadong Liu ◽

Jiwen Li ◽

Xiaolin Zhao ◽

Juan Yang

Keyword(s):

Stress Responses ◽

Life Stress ◽

Early Life ◽

Psychosocial Stress ◽

Early Life Stress ◽

Reward Anticipation ◽

Acute Psychosocial Stress

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Maternal separation in rodents: a journey from gut to brain and nutritional perspectives

Proceedings of The Nutrition Society ◽

10.1017/s0029665119000958 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 79 (1) ◽

pp. 113-132 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Marion Rincel ◽

Muriel Darnaudéry

Keyword(s):

Life Stress ◽

Early Life ◽

Maternal Separation ◽

Human Subjects ◽

Early Life Stress ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Early Life Adversity ◽

Critical Window ◽

Beneficial Impact ◽

The Impact

The developmental period constitutes a critical window of sensitivity to stress. Indeed, early-life adversity increases the risk to develop psychiatric diseases, but also gastrointestinal disorders such as the irritable bowel syndrome at adulthood. In the past decade, there has been huge interest in the gut–brain axis, especially as regards stress-related emotional behaviours. Animal models of early-life adversity, in particular, maternal separation (MS) in rodents, demonstrate lasting deleterious effects on both the gut and the brain. Here, we review the effects of MS on both systems with a focus on stress-related behaviours. In addition, we discuss more recent findings showing the impact of gut-directed interventions, including nutrition with pre- and probiotics, illustrating the role played by gut microbiota in mediating the long-term effects of MS. Overall, preclinical studies suggest that nutritional approaches with pro- and prebiotics may constitute safe and efficient strategies to attenuate the effects of early-life stress on the gut–brain axis. Further research is required to understand the complex mechanisms underlying gut–brain interaction dysfunctions after early-life stress as well as to determine the beneficial impact of gut-directed strategies in a context of early-life adversity in human subjects.

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Kinetics and Interrelations of the Renin Aldosterone Response to Acute Psychosocial Stress: A Neglected Stress System

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism ◽

10.1210/clinem/dgz190 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 105 (3) ◽

pp. e762-e773 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Angelina Gideon ◽

Christine Sauter ◽

Judy Fieres ◽

Thilo Berger ◽

Britta Renner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Psychosocial Stress ◽

Social Stress ◽

Stress Test ◽

Plasma Aldosterone ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Control Group ◽

Placebo Control ◽

Stress System ◽

Stress Induction ◽

Acute Psychosocial Stress

Abstract Context The renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) plays an important role in cardiovascular homeostasis and its dysfunction relates to negative health consequences. Acute psychosocial stress seems to activate the RAAS in humans, but stress kinetics and interrelations of RAAS parameters compared with a nonstress control group remain inconclusive. Objective We systematically investigated in a randomized placebo-controlled design stress kinetics and interrelations of the reactivity of RAAS parameters measured in plasma and saliva to standardized acute psychosocial stress induction. Methods 58 healthy young men were assigned to either a stress or a placebo control group. The stress group underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), while the control group underwent the placebo TSST. We repeatedly assessed plasma renin, and plasma and salivary aldosterone before and up to 3 hours after stress/placebo. We simultaneously assessed salivary cortisol to validate successful stress induction and to test for interrelations. Results Acute psychosocial stress induced significant increases in all endocrine measures compared with placebo-stress (all P ≤ .041). Highest renin levels were observed 1 minute after stress, and highest aldosterone and cortisol levels 10 and 20 minutes after stress, with salivary aldosterone starting earlier at 1 minute after stress. Renin completed recovery at 10 minutes, cortisol at 60 minutes, salivary aldosterone at 90 minutes, and plasma aldosterone at 180 minutes after stress. Stress increase scores of all endocrine measures related to each other, as did renin and cortisol areas under the curve with respect to increase (AUCi) and salivary and plasma aldosterone AUCi (all P ≤ .047). Conclusions Our findings suggest that in humans acute psychosocial stress induces a differential and interrelated RAAS parameter activation pattern. Potential implications for stress-related cardiovascular risk remain to be elucidated.

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Does Psychosocial Stress Impact Cognitive Reappraisal? Behavioral and Neural Evidence

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn_a_01157 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 29 (11) ◽

pp. 1803-1816 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Maheen Shermohammed ◽

Pranjal H. Mehta ◽

Joan Zhang ◽

Cassandra M. Brandes ◽

Luke J. Chang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Rate ◽

Psychosocial Stress ◽

Social Stress ◽

Acute Stress ◽

Stress Test ◽

Cognitive Reappraisal ◽

Self Report ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Control Group ◽

Stress Group

Cognitive reappraisal (CR) is regarded as an effective emotion regulation strategy. Acute stress, however, is believed to impair the functioning of prefrontal-based neural systems, which could result in lessened effectiveness of CR under stress. This study tested the behavioral and neurobiological impact of acute stress on CR. While undergoing fMRI, adult participants ( n = 54) passively viewed or used CR to regulate their response to negative and neutral pictures and provided ratings of their negative affect in response to each picture. Half of the participants experienced an fMRI-adapted acute psychosocial stress manipulation similar to the Trier Social Stress Test, and a control group received parallel manipulations without the stressful components. Relative to the control group, the stress group exhibited heightened stress as indexed by self-report, heart rate, and salivary cortisol throughout the scan. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found that reappraisal success was equivalent in the control and stress groups, as was electrodermal response to the pictures. Heart rate deceleration, a physiological response typically evoked by aversive pictures, was blunted in response to negative pictures and heightened in response to neutral pictures in the stress group. In the brain, we found weak evidence of stress-induced increases of reappraisal-related activity in parts of the PFC and left amygdala, but these relationships were statistically fragile. Together, these findings suggest that both the self-reported and neural effects of CR may be robust to at least moderate levels of stress, informing theoretical models of stress effects on cognition and emotion.

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Effects of d-amphetamine upon psychosocial stress responses

Journal of Psychopharmacology ◽

10.1177/0269881116650388 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 30 (7) ◽

pp. 608-615 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Emma Childs ◽

Anya K Bershad ◽

Harriet de Wit

Keyword(s):

Stress Responses ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Psychosocial Stress ◽

Social Stress ◽

Stress Test ◽

Real Life ◽

Cognitive Appraisals ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Laboratory Animals ◽

Double Blind

Psychostimulant drugs alter the salience of stimuli in both laboratory animals and humans. In animals, stimulants increase rates of responding to conditioned incentive stimuli, and in humans, amphetamine increases positive ratings of emotional images. However, the effects of stimulants on real-life emotional events have not been studied in humans. In this study, we examined the effect of d-amphetamine on responses to acute psychosocial stress using a public speaking task. Healthy volunteers ( N=56) participated in two experimental sessions, one with a psychosocial stressor (the Trier Social Stress Test) and one with a non-stressful control task. They were randomly assigned to receive d-amphetamine (5 mg n=18, 10 mg n=20) or placebo ( n=18) on both sessions under double blind conditions. Salivary cortisol, subjective mood, and vital signs were measured at regular intervals during the session. Subjects also provided cognitive appraisals of the tasks before and after their performances. Amphetamine produced its expected mood and physiological effects, and the Trier Social Stress Test produced its expected effects on cortisol and mood. Although neither dose of amphetamine altered cardiovascular or hormonal responses to stress, amphetamine (10 mg) increased participants’ pre-task appraisals of how challenging the task would be, and it increased post-task ratings of self-efficacy. Paradoxically, it also increased ratings of how stressful the task was, and prolonged aversive emotional responses. These findings suggest that amphetamine differentially affects stress response components: it may increase participants’ appraisals of self-efficacy without dampening the direct emotional or physiological responses to the stress.

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Early Life Stress Enhances the Vulnerability to Chronic Psychosocial Stress and Experimental Colitis in Adult Mice

Endocrinology ◽

10.1210/en.2007-1469 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 149 (6) ◽

pp. 2727-2736 ◽

Cited By ~ 92

Author(s):

Alexa H. Veenema ◽

Stefan O. Reber ◽

Sandra Selch ◽

Florian Obermeier ◽

Inga D. Neumann

Keyword(s):

Life Stress ◽

Early Life ◽

Psychosocial Stress ◽

Early Life Stress ◽

Experimental Colitis ◽

Adult Mice ◽

Chronic Psychosocial Stress

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Early life adversity, dispositional mindfulness, and longitudinal stress experience during the COVID-19 pandemic

10.31234/osf.io/5kt6z ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Annika Benz ◽

Maria Meier ◽

Ulrike U. Bentele ◽

Stephanie J. Dimitroff ◽

Bernadette Denk ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Perceived Stress ◽

Life Stress ◽

Early Life ◽

Early Life Stress ◽

Dispositional Mindfulness ◽

Early Life Adversity ◽

Stress Buffering ◽

Psychopathological Symptoms ◽

Increased Risk ◽

The Impact

Experiencing severe or prolonged stressors in early life is associated with increased risk for mental and physical disorders in adulthood. Further, individuals who experienced early life stress (ELS) may use dysfunctional coping strategies like stress-related eating, in contrast to more beneficial stress buffering mechanisms e.g. based on mindfulness. Whether these mechanisms contribute to increased levels of perceived stress and symptoms of mental disorders in individuals with ELS in times of crisis is yet unclear. As part of a larger project, we assessed changes in perceived stress and psychopathological symptoms in a sample of N=102 participants (81% female; meanage=23.49, SDage= 7.11, range 18–62) from October/December 2019 (prior to the Covid-19 pandemic) to April/June 2020 (after the German government introduced Covid-19 related restrictions). Additionally, we assessed ELS and dispositional mindfulness.Perceived stress and depression significantly increased while anxiety levels decreased. No significant change was observed for somatization. ELS and dispositional mindfulness were not associated with change scores, but with perceived stress and psychopathological symptoms at both assessments. The increase in perceived stress during the pandemic in a majority of participants demonstrates the impact of the pandemic in the general population.

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Early life stress: It’s all in the timing

Science Translational Medicine ◽

10.1126/scitranslmed.aay3581 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (503) ◽

pp. eaay3581

Author(s):

Dylan G. Gee

Keyword(s):

Childhood Maltreatment ◽

Life Stress ◽

Early Life ◽

Early Life Stress

The effects of childhood maltreatment on adult amygdala function depend on when the maltreatment occurs.

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Investigation of the effects of emotional context and psychosocial stress on response inhibition

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/s0924-9338(11)72119-8 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 26 (S2) ◽

pp. 411-411

Author(s):

P.Z. Álmos ◽

G. Csifcsák ◽

B. Andó ◽

M. Gergelyfi ◽

T. Sándor ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Response Inhibition ◽

Psychosocial Stress ◽

Social Stress ◽

Stress Test ◽

Event Related Potentials ◽

Trier Social Stress Test ◽

Baseline Condition ◽

Emotional Context ◽

Promising Tool ◽

Related Potentials

IntroductionResponse inhibition (RI) is a basic component of human behaviour responsible for suppressing actions or thoughts which are inappropriate in a certain context. This cognitive function is well-studied in laboratory conditions, but there is limited data how it is influenced by emotional context and psychosocial stress.ObjectivesThe effect of emotional factors on RI can be investigated with an emotional go/nogo task, while psychosocial stress can be induced with the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST). Electroencephalography (EEG) is an excellent method for studying the neural correlates of RI: the two major event-related potentials (ERPs) implicated in the process are the frontal N2 and P3 components.AimsIn this respect, our aim was to investigate how psychosocial stress and emotional context modulate these ERPs.MethodsSeven healthy adult volunteers performed emotional go/no go tasks while brain responses were recorded by EEG. The task was carried out on two different occasions: at baseline condition and after moderate psychosocial stress induced by the TSST.ResultsWe successfully replicated the robust go vs. nogo effect on the frontal N2 and P3 amplitudes. However, ERPs were not affected by positive or negative emotional context in the baseline condition. In contrast, after TSST a significantly enhanced valence effect was observed on the go-related N2 amplitude and a greater go vs. nogo N2 latency difference was detected.ConclusionsThese findings highlight the importance of the stress-regulating system on emotionally modulated RI and render this paradigm a promising tool for investigating RI in anxiety and mood disorders.

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