Hair Cortisol Level as a Biomarker for Altered Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Activity in Female Adolescents with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder After the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake
Hair Cortisol Level as a Biomarker for Altered Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Activity in Female Adolescents with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder After the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake
复制标题
头发皮质醇水平作为 2008 年汶川地震后患有创伤后应激障碍的女性青少年下丘脑 - 垂体 - 肾上腺活动改变的生物标志物
DOI：
10.1016/j.biopsych.2011.12.020
复制
发表时间：
2012-07-01
影响因子：
10.6
通讯作者：
Li, Tao
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Luo, Hongrong;Hu, Xun;Li, Tao
背景：本研究评估了2008年中国汶川地震后创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）患者毛发皮质醇水平的累积变化。方法：在地震发生7个月后，从两个乡镇招募64名经历过地震的女性青少年，其中有PTSD的32名（PTSD组）和无PTSD的32名（非PTSD组）。从没有受到地震显著影响的地区招募了20名匹配的青少年作为对照组。通过电化学发光免疫分析法测量头皮头发样品每3厘米片段的毛发皮质醇浓度。结果：三组患者创伤性事件前毛发皮质醇基线水平差异无统计学意义（p < 0.05）。毛发皮质醇水平随时间变化，组间差异较大（p = 0.0042）。创伤后应激障碍和非创伤后应激障碍受试者的毛发皮质醇水平升高，表明对压力的反应水平升高。然而，这两组人的反应不同。创伤事件发生后第2个月至第4个月，非创伤后应激障碍受试者的皮质醇水平明显高于创伤后应激障碍组（p = 0.0137），第5个月至第7个月（p = 0.0438）。结论：本研究揭示了创伤后应激障碍受试者对灾难的反应曲线较非创伤后应激障碍受试者迟钝。这些发现表明，毛发皮质醇水平可用于评估创伤事件后几个月内下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺的综合活动，并可作为创伤后应激障碍患者的生物标志物。
Background: The present study evaluated the accumulated changes in hair cortisol levels of patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) attributed to the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China.Methods: Sixty-four female adolescents from two townships who experienced the earthquake were recruited 7 months after the disaster, including 32 subjects with PTSD (PTSD group) and 32 subjects without PTSD (non-PTSD group). Twenty matched adolescents were recruited from an area that was not affected significantly by the earthquake as the control group. Hair cortisol concentrations were measured by the electrochemiluminescence immunoassay in each 3-cm segment of hair sample from the scalp.Results: There was no significant difference at the baseline hair cortisol level in the three groups before the traumatic event (p > .6). Hair cortisol levels changed over time and differed among groups (p = .0042). The hair cortisol levels among the PTSD and non-PTSD subjects were elevated, suggesting increasing levels in response to stress. However, these two groups differed in their response. The non-PTSD subjects showed a significantly higher cortisol level than the PTSD group between month 2 and month 4 (p = .0137) and also between month 5 and month 7 (p = .0438) after the traumatic event.Conclusions: This study revealed a blunted response curve to the disaster among PTSD subjects compared with subjects without PTSD. These findings suggest that hair cortisol level could be used to assess the integrated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity over a period of months after traumatic events and be used to serve as a biomarker in patients with PTSD.