1. Evidence for Stress-like Alterations in the HPA-Axis in Women Taking Oral Contraceptives
- Author
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Sandra Van der Auwera, Katharina Wittfeld, Georg Homuth, Nele Friedrich, Matthias Nauck, Maik Pietzner, Sönke Langner, Tim Kacprowski, Henry Völzke, Hans Joergen Grabe, Uwe Völker, Johanna König, Anna Artati, Anja Kretschmer, Karsten Suhre, Johannes Hertel, Jerzy Adamski, Gabi Kastenmüller, Melanie Waldenberger, and Liliane Pfeiffer
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,genetics [Introns] ,Physiology ,Pituitary-Adrenal System ,lcsh:Medicine ,genetics [Stress, Psychological] ,blood [Phospholipids] ,drug effects [Organ Size] ,0302 clinical medicine ,blood [Stress, Psychological] ,Medicine ,Young adult ,Receptor ,lcsh:Science ,metabolism [Receptors, Glucocorticoid] ,Depression (differential diagnoses) ,Phospholipids ,Whole blood ,Multidisciplinary ,Brain ,Organ Size ,Middle Aged ,Magnetic Resonance Imaging ,drug effects [Brain] ,metabolism [Tacrolimus Binding Proteins] ,Female ,FKBP5 ,Glucocorticoid ,medicine.drug ,Signal Transduction ,Adult ,drug effects [Signal Transduction] ,Hypothalamus ,drug effects [Hypothalamus] ,Article ,Tacrolimus Binding Proteins ,03 medical and health sciences ,Young Adult ,drug effects [Pituitary-Adrenal System] ,Receptors, Glucocorticoid ,drug effects [DNA Methylation] ,blood [Triglycerides] ,physiopathology [Stress, Psychological] ,Humans ,diagnostic imaging [Brain] ,Triglycerides ,tacrolimus binding protein 5 ,business.industry ,Stressor ,lcsh:R ,DNA Methylation ,Introns ,chemically induced [Stress, Psychological] ,genetics [Tacrolimus Binding Proteins] ,030104 developmental biology ,Etiology ,lcsh:Q ,adverse effects [Contraceptives, Oral] ,business ,ddc:600 ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Stress, Psychological ,Contraceptives, Oral - Abstract
Using oral contraceptives has been implicated in the aetiology of stress-related disorders like depression. Here, we followed the hypothesis that oral contraceptives deregulate the HPA-axis by elevating circulating cortisol levels. We report for a sample of 233 pre-menopausal women increased circulating cortisol levels in those using oral contraceptives. For women taking oral contraceptives, we observed alterations in circulating phospholipid levels and elevated triglycerides and found evidence for increased glucocorticoid signalling as the transcript levels of the glucocorticoid-regulated genes DDIT4 and FKBP5 were increased in whole blood. The effects were statistically mediated by cortisol. The associations of oral contraceptives with higher FKBP5 mRNA and altered phospholipid levels were modified by rs1360780, a genetic variance implicated in psychiatric diseases. Accordingly, the methylation pattern of FKBP5 intron 7 was altered in women taking oral contraceptives depending on the rs1360780 genotype. Moreover, oral contraceptives modified the association of circulating cortisol with depressive symptoms, potentially explaining conflicting results in the literature. Finally, women taking oral contraceptives displayed smaller hippocampal volumes than non-using women. In conclusion, the integrative analyses of different types of physiological data provided converging evidence indicating that oral contraceptives may cause effects analogous to chronic psychological stressors regarding the regulation of the HPA axis.
- Published
- 2017
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