Centre for Research in Human Development, Concordia University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
Bipolar Disord. 2010 Feb;12(1):77-86. doi: 10.1111/j.1399-5618.2009.00770.x.
The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is compromised in major depression, bipolar disorder (BD), and in the offspring of parents with major depression. Less is known about the offspring of parents with BD (FH+). The present project provides follow-up to a previous study showing that the adolescent (mean age 16.7 years) FH+ offspring had higher salivary cortisol levels than the offspring of parents with no mental disorder (FH-) throughout the day in their natural environment, and that girls had higher cortisol levels than boys (Ellenbogen MA, Hodgins S, Walker C-D, Adam S, Couture S. Daytime cortisol and stress reactivity in the offspring of parents with bipolar disorder. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2006; 31: 1164-1180). The goal of the present study was to determine whether FH+ offspring, approximately two years later, continued to exhibit elevated cortisol levels relative to FH- offspring during two weeks of daily sampling.
The present study examined salivary cortisol levels in 24 (18.3 +/- 2.6 years) FH+ and 22 (18.0 +/- 2.3 years) FH- offspring who are part of the same longitudinal cohort as the previous study. Saliva was collected at 1300 h and 1500 h in the natural environment of the offspring during 14 consecutive days.
Multilevel modelling analyses indicated that FH+ offspring had higher afternoon levels of cortisol in their natural environment than FH- offspring, but group differences in slope and gender differences were not found.
The FH+ offspring exhibited increased daytime secretion of cortisol that, at the level of the group, persisted into late adolescence and young adulthood. Perhaps this change in HPA functioning is associated with an increased vulnerability for the development of an affective disorder.
下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴在重度抑郁症、双相情感障碍（BD）以及重度抑郁症父母的子女中受到损害。关于双相情感障碍父母的子女（FH+）的了解较少。本项目是对先前一项研究的后续研究，该研究表明，在自然环境中，青少年（平均年龄 16.7 岁）FH+子女的唾液皮质醇水平全天均高于无精神障碍父母的子女（FH-），且女孩的皮质醇水平高于男孩（Ellenbogen MA、Hodgins S、Walker C-D、Adam S、Couture S. 双相情感障碍父母子女的日间皮质醇和应激反应。心理神经内分泌学 2006; 31: 1164-1180）。本研究的目的是确定大约两年后，在连续两周的日常采样中，FH+子女是否仍表现出相对于 FH-子女的皮质醇水平升高。
本研究检查了 24 名（18.3 +/- 2.6 岁）FH+和 22 名（18.0 +/- 2.3 岁）FH-子女的唾液皮质醇水平，他们是先前研究的同一纵向队列的一部分。在 14 天的连续时间内，在自然环境中于 1300 小时和 1500 小时采集唾液。
多层次模型分析表明，FH+子女在自然环境中的下午皮质醇水平高于 FH-子女，但未发现组间斜率差异和性别差异。
FH+子女表现出白天皮质醇分泌增加，在群体水平上，这种变化持续到青少年晚期和成年早期。也许这种 HPA 功能的变化与发生情感障碍的易感性增加有关。
