Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
Biol Psychol. 2010 Oct;85(2):344-6. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2010.07.007. Epub 2010 Jul 15.
In interaction with stressful life events, the serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) is associated with depression. In response to stress, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is activated. HPA activity is often increased in depression. Thus, one potential mechanism by which 5-HTTLPR might increase risk for depression is by its impact on HPA activity. We examined the effects of 5-HTTLPR on diurnal saliva cortisol secretion (0800 h, 1200 h, 1600 h, 2200 h) in 130 healthy adults (66 men, 64 women) equally distributed across four age groups (30-70 years) using the tri-allelic classification [high-expressing (LA/LA), intermediate-expressing (LG/LA, LA/S), low-expressing (S/S, S/LG)]. We found a significant sex by 5-HTTLPR interaction on cortisol secretion. In men, higher cortisol levels were associated with lower transcriptional activity of 5-HTTLPR, whereas no such trend was observed in women. Our results suggest that men and women differ in serotonergic mediation of HPA-axis activity. This might contribute to sex-specific risk for depression.
在与压力生活事件相互作用下，5-羟色胺转运体基因连锁多态性区域（5-HTTLPR）与抑郁症有关。在应激反应中，下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴被激活。HPA 活动在抑郁症中常常增加。因此，5-HTTLPR 可能通过其对 HPA 活动的影响增加抑郁症风险的一个潜在机制。我们使用三等位基因分类（高表达（LA/LA）、中表达（LG/LA、LA/S）、低表达（S/S、S/LG）），在 130 名健康成年人（66 名男性，64 名女性）中，检查了 5-HTTLPR 对日间唾液皮质醇分泌（0800 h、1200 h、1600 h、2200 h）的影响，这些成年人均匀分布在四个年龄组（30-70 岁）。我们发现皮质醇分泌存在显著的性别与 5-HTTLPR 相互作用。在男性中，较高的皮质醇水平与 5-HTTLPR 的转录活性降低有关，而女性中则没有观察到这种趋势。我们的研究结果表明，男性和女性在 HPA 轴活动的 5-羟色胺介导方面存在差异。这可能导致抑郁的性别特异性风险。
