Ellenbogen M A, Hodgins S, Walker C-D
Départment de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, Succursale Centre-Ville, Québec, H3C 3J7, Montréal, Canada
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2004 Jan;29(1):99-106. doi: 10.1016/s0306-4530(02)00135-x.
The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is compromised at several levels in major depressive and bipolar disorder (BD). However, it is not known whether HPA abnormalities predate the onset of these disorders. We conducted a pilot study comparing salivary cortisol levels of 10 adolescent offspring of parents with BD and 10 offspring of parents with no mental disorder (NMD). For two days, samples were collected at awakening and during the day in the adolescents' natural environment. The offspring of parents with BD had higher mean cortisol levels in the mornings and afternoons than the offspring of parents with NMD. When controlling for age, group differences in cortisol persisted in the afternoon, but not morning samples. None of the adolescents met diagnostic criteria for anxiety, affective, attention-deficit, or conduct disorders. Although preliminary, the results suggest that there is an early abnormality in the HPA system of the offspring of parents with BD.
下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴在重度抑郁症和双相情感障碍（BD）的多个层面受到损害。然而，尚不清楚HPA异常是否早于这些疾病的发作。我们进行了一项初步研究，比较了10名双相情感障碍患者的青少年后代与10名无精神障碍（NMD）父母的后代的唾液皮质醇水平。连续两天，在青少年的自然环境中于醒来时和白天采集样本。双相情感障碍患者的后代在上午和下午的平均皮质醇水平高于无精神障碍父母的后代。在控制年龄后，下午样本中皮质醇的组间差异仍然存在，但上午样本中不存在。所有青少年均未达到焦虑、情感、注意力缺陷或品行障碍的诊断标准。尽管结果是初步的，但表明双相情感障碍患者的后代HPA系统存在早期异常。
