TY - JOUR A1 - Buchmann, Arlette F. A1 - Holz, Nathalie A1 - Boecker-Schlier, Regina A1 - Blomeyer, Dorothea A1 - Rietschel, Marcella A1 - Witt, Stephanie H. A1 - Schmidt, Martin H. A1 - Esser, Günter A1 - Banaschewski, Tobias A1 - Brandeis, Daniel A1 - Zimmermann, Ulrich S. A1 - Laucht, Manfred T1 - Moderating role of FKBP5 genotype in the impact of childhood adversity on cortisol stress response during adulthood JF - European neuropsychopharmacology : the journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology N2 - Recent research suggests an important role of FKBP5, a glucocorticoid receptor regulating co-chaperone, in the development of stress-related diseases such as depression and anxiety disorders. The present study aimed to replicate and extend previous evidence indicating that FKBP5 polymorphisms moderate hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) function by examining whether FKBP5 rs1360780 genotype and different measures of childhood adversity interact to predict stress-induced cortisol secretion. At age 19 years, 195 young adults (90 males, 105 females) participating in an epidemiological cohort study completed the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) to assess cortisol stress responsiveness and were genotyped for the FKBP5 rs1360780. Childhood adversity was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and by a standardized parent interview yielding an index of family adversity. A significant interaction between genotype and childhood adversity on cortisol response to stress was demonstrated for exposure to childhood maltreatment as assessed by retrospective self-report (CTQ), but not for prospectively ascertained objective family adversity. Severity of childhood maltreatment was significantly associated with attenuated cortisol levels among carriers of the rs1360780 CC genotype, while no such effect emerged in carriers of the T allele. These findings point towards the functional involvement of FKBP5 in long-term alterations of neuroendocrine stress regulation related to childhood maltreatment, which have been suggested to represent a premorbid risk or resilience factor in the context of stress-related disorders. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. and ECNR This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license. KW - FKBP5 KW - Stress KW - HPA KW - Cortisol KW - Childhood adversity Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2013.12.001 SN - 0924-977X SN - 1873-7862 VL - 24 IS - 6 SP - 837 EP - 845 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Buchmann, Arlette F. A1 - Zohsel, Katrin A1 - Blomeyer, Dorothea A1 - Hohm, Erika A1 - Hohmann, Sarah A1 - Jennen-Steinmetz, Christine A1 - Treutlein, Jens A1 - Becker, Katja A1 - Banaschewski, Tobias A1 - Schmidt, Martin H. A1 - Esser, Günter A1 - Brandeis, Daniel A1 - Poustka, Luise A1 - Zimmermann, Ulrich S. A1 - Laucht, Manfred T1 - Interaction between prenatal stress and dopamine D4 receptor genotype in predicting aggression and cortisol levels in young adults JF - Psychopharmacology N2 - Considerable evidence suggests that genetic factors combine with environmental influences to impact on the development of aggressive behavior. A genetic variant that has repeatedly been reported to render individuals more sensitive to the presence of adverse experiences, including stress exposure during fetal life, is the seven-repeat allele of the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) gene. The present investigation concentrated on the interplay of prenatal maternal stress and DRD4 genotype in predicting self-reported aggression in young adults. As disruption of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system has been discussed as a pathophysiological pathway to aggression, cortisol stress reactivity was additionally examined. As part of an epidemiological cohort study, prenatal maternal stress was assessed by maternal interview 3 months after childbirth. Between the ages of 19 and 23 years, 298 offspring (140 males, 158 females) completed the Young Adult Self-Report to measure aggressive behavior and were genotyped for the DRD4 gene. At 19 years, 219 participants additionally underwent the Trier Social Stress Test to determine cortisol reactivity. Extending earlier findings with respect to childhood antisocial behavior, the results revealed that, under conditions of higher prenatal maternal stress, carriers of the DRD4 seven-repeat allele displayed more aggression in adulthood (p = 0.032). Moreover, the same conditions which seemed to promote aggression were found to predict attenuated cortisol secretion (p = 0.028). This is the first study to indicate a long-term impact of prenatal stress exposure on the cortisol stress response depending on DRD4 genotype. KW - Prenatal stress KW - Aggression KW - Cortisol KW - DRD4 KW - Gene-environment interaction Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-014-3484-7 SN - 0033-3158 SN - 1432-2072 VL - 231 IS - 16 SP - 3089 EP - 3097 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gilles, Maria A1 - Otto, Henrike A1 - Wolf, Isabell A. C. A1 - Scharnholz, Barbara A1 - Peus, Verena A1 - Schredl, Michael A1 - Suetterlin, Marc W. A1 - Witt, Stephanie H. A1 - Rietschel, Marcella A1 - Laucht, Manfred A1 - Deuschle, Michael T1 - Maternal hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system activity and stress measures at birth JF - Psychoneuroendocrinology N2 - Background: Prenatal maternal stress might be a risk for the developing fetus and may have long-lasting effects on child and adult vulnerability to somatic and psychiatric disease. Over-exposure of the unborn to excess glucocorticoids and subsequent alteration of fetal development is hypothesized to be one of the key mechanisms linking prenatal stress with negative child outcome. Methods: In this prospective longitudinal study, mothers-to-be (n = 405) in late pregnancy (36.8 +/- 1.9 weeks of gestational age) and their singleton neonates were studied. We investigated the impact of different prenatal stress indices derived from six stress variables (perceived stress, specific prenatal worries, negative life events, symptoms of depression, trait anxiety, neuroticism) and diurnal maternal saliva cortisol secretion on gestational age and anthropometric measures at birth. KW - Early life stress KW - Gestational age KW - Anthropometric measures at birth KW - Cortisol KW - Prenatal distress KW - Pregnancy Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.04.022 SN - 0306-4530 VL - 94 SP - 152 EP - 161 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Plener, Paul L. A1 - Zohsel, Katrin A1 - Hohm, Erika A1 - Buchmann, Arlette F. A1 - Banaschewski, T. A1 - Zimmermann, Ulrich S. A1 - Laucht, Manfred T1 - Lower cortisol level in response to a psychosocial stressor in young females with self-harm JF - Psychoneuroendocrinology N2 - Background: Self-harm is highly prevalent in adolescence, often serving an emotion regulation function. Social stressors such as bullying are associated with self-harm. The neurobiological background of the relationship between social stressors and self-harm needs to be further understood to inform prevention and therapy. Methods: Participants were members of an epidemiological cohort study. 130 female participants underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) at age 19. Of them, 21 reported a history of self-harm as assessed by the Youth Self Report. Psychiatric diagnoses were recorded. Results: Participants with a history of self-harm showed significantly lower blood cortisol levels throughout the TSST. Early psychosocial adversity did not significantly differ between groups with and without self-harm, with self-harming participants reporting more childhood adversities. Conclusion: These results add to the limited field of studies showing an altered HPA axis activity in females with self-harm. Future studies need to address the causal mechanisms behind this association. KW - Self-harm KW - Trier Social Stress Test KW - TSST KW - Cortisol KW - Nonsuicidal self-injury Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.11.009 SN - 0306-4530 VL - 76 SP - 84 EP - 87 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schmid, Brigitte A1 - Buchmann, Arlette F. A1 - Trautmann-Villalba, Patricia A1 - Blomeyer, Dorothea A1 - Zimmermann, Ulrich S. A1 - Schmidt, Martin H. A1 - Esser, Günter A1 - Banaschewski, Tobias A1 - Laucht, Manfred T1 - Maternal stimulation in infancy predicts hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis reactivity in young men JF - Journal of neural transmission N2 - Evidence from animal research has demonstrated the effect of early maternal care on the offspring's endocrine and behavioral stress response in adulthood. The present prospective study investigates, in humans, the long-term impact of maternal responsiveness and stimulation during early mother-child interaction on adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol response to a psychosocial laboratory stressor in adulthood. The data are from an epidemiological cohort study of the long-term outcome of early risk factors assessed at birth. At age 3 months, mothers and infants were videotaped during a 10-min standardized nursing and playing situation and evaluated by trained raters for maternal stimulation and infant and maternal responsiveness. At age 19 years, 270 participants (146 females, 124 males) completed the Trier Social Stress Test. The results indicated that less maternal stimulation during early interaction at age 3 months predicted diminished plasma ACTH and cortisol increase in response to acute psychosocial stress in male, but not female offspring. In contrast, maternal responsiveness was found to be unrelated to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) reactivity. In accordance with the findings from animal research, the present study provides prospective evidence in humans of a long-term association between early maternal interaction behavior and the offspring's hormonal stress response in young adulthood, suggesting that poor maternal stimulation in early infancy may result in reduced HPA axis reactivity to an acute psychosocial stressor in males. KW - ACTH KW - Cortisol KW - HPA axis KW - Mother-infant interaction Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-013-0970-8 SN - 0300-9564 VL - 120 IS - 8 SP - 1247 EP - 1257 PB - Springer CY - Wien ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schultebraucks, Katharina A1 - Deuter, Christian E. A1 - Duesenberg, Moritz A1 - Schulze, Lars A1 - Hellmann-Regen, Julian A1 - Domke, Antonia A1 - Lockenvitz, Lisa A1 - Kuehl, Linn K. A1 - Otte, Christian A1 - Wingenfeld, Katja T1 - Selective attention to emotional cues and emotion recognition in healthy subjects: the role of mineralocorticoid receptor stimulation JF - Psychopharmacology N2 - Selective attention toward emotional cues and emotion recognition of facial expressions are important aspects of social cognition. Stress modulates social cognition through cortisol, which acts on glucocorticoid (GR) and mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) in the brain. We examined the role of MR activation on attentional bias toward emotional cues and on emotion recognition. We included 40 healthy young women and 40 healthy young men (mean age 23.9 +/- 3.3), who either received 0.4 mg of the MR agonist fludrocortisone or placebo. A dot-probe paradigm was used to test for attentional biases toward emotional cues (happy and sad faces). Moreover, we used a facial emotion recognition task to investigate the ability to recognize emotional valence (anger and sadness) from facial expression in four graded categories of emotional intensity (20, 30, 40, and 80 %). In the emotional dot-probe task, we found a main effect of treatment and a treatment x valence interaction. Post hoc analyses revealed an attentional bias away from sad faces after placebo intake and a shift in selective attention toward sad faces compared to placebo. We found no attentional bias toward happy faces after fludrocortisone or placebo intake. In the facial emotion recognition task, there was no main effect of treatment. MR stimulation seems to be important in modulating quick, automatic emotional processing, i.e., a shift in selective attention toward negative emotional cues. Our results confirm and extend previous findings of MR function. However, we did not find an effect of MR stimulation on emotion recognition. KW - Selective attention KW - Emotion recognition KW - Fludrocortisone KW - Mineralocorticoid receptor KW - Stress KW - Cortisol Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-016-4380-0 SN - 0033-3158 SN - 1432-2072 VL - 233 SP - 3405 EP - 3415 PB - Springer CY - New York ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Send, Tabea A1 - Bardtke, S. A1 - Gilles, M. A1 - Wolf, I. A. C. A1 - Sütterlin, Marc Wolf A1 - Wudy, S. A. A1 - Wang, R. A1 - Laucht, Manfred A1 - Witt, Stephanie H. A1 - Rietschel, Marcella A1 - Streit, Fabian A1 - Deuschle, Michael T1 - Prenatal maternal stress is associated with lower cortisol and cortisone levels in the first morning urine of 45-month-old children JF - Psychoneuroendocrinology N2 - Prenatal stress (PS) has been related to altered hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity later in life. So far, studies in children assessing HPA axis functioning have focused on salivary cortisol, reflecting daytime activity. The present work is part of a prospective study and aims to extend knowledge about the association between PS and HPA axis regulation in children. To do so, we investigated cortisol, cortisone, and the ratio cortisone/(cortisone + cortisol) in the first morning urine of 45-month-old children in relation to several measures of maternal stress during pregnancy. Urinary cortisol and cortisone were measured by online turbulent flow chromatography coupled with high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. PS was defined as: perceived stress for aim 1 (Perceived Stress Scale; n = 280); presence of self-reported (n = 371) and expert-rated psychopathology for aim 2 (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview; n = 281); continuous measures of anxiety and depression for exploratory aim 3 (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; n = 280). The ratio cortisone/(cortisone + cortisol) as a global marker for the balance between the enzymes metabolizing cortisol to cortisone and vice versa (11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases type 1 and 2; 11 beta-HSD1 and 2) was not associated with any measure of maternal PS (aims 1-3). The present study provides insight into possible programming effects of PS on nocturnal HPA axis activity and a proxy of 11 beta-HSD in a large sample. The results suggest that the nocturnal rate of cortisol production is lower in children exposed to PS, but do not support the hypothesis of divergent 11 beta-HSD activity. KW - Prenatal stress KW - Cortisol KW - Cortisone KW - HPA axis KW - Perceived stress KW - Psychopathology Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.01.017 SN - 0306-4530 VL - 103 SP - 219 EP - 224 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Send, Tabea Sarah A1 - Bardtke, Svenja A1 - Gilles, Maria A1 - Wolf, Isabella Germaine A1 - Sütterlin, Marc W. A1 - Kirschbaum, Clemens A1 - Laucht, Manfred A1 - Witt, Stephanie H. A1 - Rietschel, Marcella A1 - Streit, Fabian A1 - Deuschle, Michael T1 - Stress reactivity in preschool-aged children BT - Evaluation of a social stress paradigm and investigation of the impact of prenatal maternal stress JF - Psychoneuroendocrinology N2 - Prenatal maternal stress is an established risk factor for somatic and psychological health of the offspring. A dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in offspring has been suggested as an important mechanism. However, the impact of prenatal stress on stress reactivity in preschool-aged children is not yet well understood. This is partly due to the fact that for this age group there is no stress test as well established as for older children and adults. In the present work a previously published stress test (Kryski et al., 2011) was evaluated in a large sample of 45-month-old children (n = 339). Furthermore, the relation between measures of prenatal maternal stress and cortisol reactivity was investigated. Prenatal stress was defined as psychopathology (self-report available for n = 339; expert-rating available for a subsample of n = 246) and perceived stress (n = 244) during pregnancy. The stress paradigm elicited significant increases in salivary cortisol 30 and 40 min after the test, and 60.8% of the children were classified as responders. Lower cortisol levels after the stress test were observed in the group of children with prenatal stress defined as maternal psychopathology (both self-reported and expert-rated). Maternal perceived stress as a continuous measure was not significantly associated with cortisol levels. However, when comparing children in the highest quartile of maternal perceived stress to all other children, significantly lower cortisol values were observed in the prenatally stressed group. The present study confirms the paradigm by Kryski et al. as an effective stress test for preschool-aged children. Moreover, it provides further evidence that prenatal stress impacts HPA axis reactivity. Future studies should target the timing, nature, and intensity of prenatal stressors and their effect on the stress response in offspring at different developmental stages. KW - Stress test KW - Children KW - Prenatal stress KW - Cortisol KW - HPA axis reactivity KW - Psychopathology Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.11.002 SN - 0306-4530 VL - 101 SP - 223 EP - 231 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wolf, Isabell Ann-Cathrin A1 - Gilles, Maria A1 - Peus, Verena A1 - Scharnholz, Barbara A1 - Seibert, Julia A1 - Jennen-Steinmetz, Christine A1 - Krumm, Bertram A1 - Deuschle, Michael A1 - Laucht, Manfred T1 - Impact of prenatal stress on the dyadic behavior of mothers and their 6-month-old infants during a play situation: role of different dimensions of stress JF - Journal of neural transmission KW - Prenatal stress KW - Cortisol KW - Mother-infant behavior KW - Pregnancy KW - Stress inoculation Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-017-1770-3 SN - 0300-9564 SN - 1435-1463 VL - 124 SP - 1251 EP - 1260 PB - Springer CY - Wien ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wolf, Isabell Ann-Cathrin A1 - Gilles, Maria A1 - Peus, Verena A1 - Scharnholz, Barbara A1 - Seibert, Julia A1 - Jennen-Steinmetz, Christine A1 - Krumm, Bertram A1 - Rietschel, Marcella A1 - Deuschle, Michael A1 - Laucht, Manfred T1 - Impact of prenatal stress on mother-infant dyadic behavior during the still-face paradigm JF - Borderline Personality Disorder and Emotion Dysregulation : the official journal of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (NEA.BPD) and Dachverband Dialektisch Behaviorale Therapie (DDBT) N2 - Background: Mother-infant interaction provides important training for the infant’s ability to cope with stress and the development of resilience. Prenatal stress (PS) and its impact on the offspring’s development have long been a focus of stress research, with studies highlighting both harmful and beneficial effects. The aim of the current study was to examine the possible influence of both psychological stress and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity during pregnancy with mother-child dyadic behavior following stress exposure. Methods: The behavior of 164 mother-infant dyads during the still-face situation was filmed at six months postpartum and coded into three dyadic patterns: 1) both positive, 2) infant protesting-mother positive, and 3) infant protesting-mother negative. PS exposure was assessed prenatally according to psychological measures (i.e., psychopathological, perceived and psychosocial PS; n = 164) and HPA axis activity measures (maternal salivary cortisol, i.e., cortisol decline and area under the curve with respect to ground (AUCg); n = 134). Results: Mother-infant dyads in both the high- and low-stress groups showed decreasing positive and increasing negative dyadic behavior in the reunion episode, which is associated with the well-known “still-face” and “carry-over” effect. Furthermore, mother-infant dyads with higher psychosocial PS exhibited significantly more positive dyadic behavior than the low psychosocial PS group in the first play episode, but not in the reunion episode. Similarly, mother-infant dyads with high HPA axis activity (i.e. high AUCg) but steeper diurnal cortisol decline (i.e. cortisol decline) displayed significantly less negative behavior in the reunion episode than dyads with low HPA axis activity. No significant results were found for psychopathological stress and perceived stress. Conclusions: The results suggest a beneficial effect of higher psychosocial PS and higher prenatal maternal HPA axis activity in late gestation, which is in line with “stress inoculation” theories. KW - Prenatal stress KW - Face-to-face still-face paradigm KW - Resilience KW - Psychosocial stress KW - Cortisol Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-018-0078-8 SN - 2051-6673 VL - 5 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER -