The hypothalamo–pituitary–adrenal axis in major affective disorder: a review
Abstract
This paper reviews studies of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis activity in patients with affective disorders. It is concluded that, despite methodological drawbacks in most studies, dysregulation of the HPA axis seems to be a consistent finding in a proportion of patients with affective disorder. The HPA axis is a complex neuroendocrine network with multiple integrated levels of control, and it is likely that the dysregulation involves abnormalities at several sites within the axis. At present, it is not clear whether the abnormalities are related to the affective episodes only or to the disorder itself. There is a need for prospective studies of larger samples of patients to be followed during successive affective episodes with a combination of measurements of the HPA-axis activity and brain imaging.
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Hypercortisolemia has been consistently found in depressed adults.
“Hypercortisolemia has been consistently found in depressed adults (Christensen & Kessing, 2001; Gillespie & Nemeroff, 2005), and has been examined as a potential predictor of various outcomes (e.g., treatment response; Ribeiro et al., 1993) as well as one cause of the brain structural anomalies observed in depressed patients (Videbech & Ravnkilde, 2004).”
From Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis dysregulation in depressed children and adolescents: A meta-analysis (2009) · cites this paper as Christensen & Kessing, 2001
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Lopez-Duran, N. L., Kovacs, M., & George, C. J. (2009) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.03.016 · Cited by 425 · see citing works
“Hypercortisolaemia has been consistently found in depressed adults (Christensen and Kessing, 2001; Gillespie and Nemeroff, 2005), and has been examined as a potential predictor of various outcomes (e.”
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- Authors
- Christensen, M. V., & Kessing, L. V.
- Affiliations
- Hvidovre Hospital (DK)
- ORCID
- Kessing, Lars Vedel
- Venue
- Nordic Journal of Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2001-01
- Volume
- 55
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 359-363
- ISSN
- 0029-1455 (ISSN-L)
- 0803-9488
- 1502-4725
- OpenAlex
- W2033493592
- Cited by
- 25
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Nordic Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adrenal Hormones and Disorders
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Keywords
- hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, mood disorders, HPA axis dysregulation, neuroendocrine regulation, depression, bipolar disorder, stress response, neuroimaging
- MeSH terms
- Dexamethasone, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Pituitary-Adrenal System, Stress, Psychological, Mood Disorders
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