No association between major depression with and without childhood adversity and the stress hormone copeptin.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are associated with an increased risk of major depressive disorder (MDD) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation. Within the HPA axis, corticotropin-releasing hormone and vasopressin (AVP) synergistically stimulate the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone, which promotes cortisol release. The cleavage product copeptin is produced during AVP synthesis and is a surrogate marker of AVP release. Children with ACE and young adults with depressive symptoms have higher levels of copeptin than healthy controls. To uncover the effects of MDD and ACE on copeptin levels in adult females. We recruited 94 women (mean age: 34.0 ± 3.6 years): 23 with MDD and ACE, 24 with MDD without ACE, 22 with ACE without MDD, and 25 healthy controls. ACE was defined as repeated sexual or physical abuse at least once a month over at least one year before the age of 18 years. MDD was defined by the DSM-IV criteria. Copeptin plasma levels were measured with an immunoluminometric assay. The four groups did not differ in demographic variables. We found a significant negative correlation between body mass index (BMI) and copeptin plasma levels ( = -.21; = .045). Copeptin plasma levels did not differ between the four groups after controlling for BMI. Neither MDD nor ACE was associated with altered plasma copeptin levels. Thus, copeptin does not seem to play a major role in MDD and ACE in adult females.