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Predicting Hair Cortisol and Cortisone Concentration in Postpartum Women through Repeated Measurements of Perceived Stress.

ABSTRACT: To investigate whether hair cortisol (HCC) and hair cortisone (HCNC) can be predicted by repeated stress reports from postpartum women in different mental health conditions (non-depressed, ND, adjustment disorder, AD, postpartum depression, PPD), 240 mothers (mean age 31.8 years; SD = 4.7) were monitored from within 1 to 6 days of childbirth over a period of three months. HCC and HCNC in 3 cm hair samples were assessed via triple mass spectrometry after liquid chromatographic separation. Every second day, participants reported their stress levels online. The summed perceived stress scores were not found to be predictive of HCC. However, perceived stress predicted a decrease in HCNC (rSpearman = -0.153, p = 0.035) and an increase in the HCC/HCNC ratio (rSpearman = 0.304, p < 0.001) in the ND group. With AD in the first few weeks after childbirth, an inverse effect appeared for HCNC (rSpearman = 0.318, p = 0.011), suggesting an overall downregulation of the HPA axis owing to the stressful experience of adjusting to the new situation. No effects were found for mothers developing PPD. The indirect results of HPA-axis activity are better indicators of the experience of psychological stress in postpartum women than the absolute HCC value.

SUBMITTER: Lang J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8707977 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Predicting Hair Cortisol and Cortisone Concentration in Postpartum Women through Repeated Measurements of Perceived Stress.

Lang Jessica J Stickel Susanne S Gaum Petra M PM Habel Ute U Bertram Jens J Eickhoff Simon B SB Chechko Natalia N

Metabolites 20211129 12

To investigate whether hair cortisol (HCC) and hair cortisone (HCNC) can be predicted by repeated stress reports from postpartum women in different mental health conditions (non-depressed, ND, adjustment disorder, AD, postpartum depression, PPD), 240 mothers (mean age 31.8 years; SD = 4.7) were monitored from within 1 to 6 days of childbirth over a period of three months. HCC and HCNC in 3 cm hair samples were assessed via triple mass spectrometry after liquid chromatographic separation. Every s ...[more]

PMID: 34940573

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Project description:BackgroundPsychological resilience is considered to protect against detrimental effects of perceived stress on cardiovascular and metabolic health, but few studies have tested biological mechanisms underlying these relationships.PurposeThis study examined whether psychological resilience moderated the indirect association of perceived stress with Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) severity via hair cortisol concentration (HCC), a retrospective index of hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis activity.MethodParticipants included 228 adults (73 White, 86 Hispanic, 69 African American; mean age 45.29 years; 68% females). Participants completed questionnaires assessing perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale) and resilience (Brief Resilience Scale). The first 3 cm of scalp-near hair were analyzed for cortisol concentration using enzyme-linked immunoassay analysis. Cardiometabolic risk factors including blood glucose, lipids, blood pressure, and waist circumference were assessed, from which a sex- and race/ethnicity-specific continuous MetS severity score was calculated. A moderated mediation model was tested using path analysis.ResultsPsychological resilience moderated the association of perceived stress with HCC (R2 change for interaction = 0.014, p =  0.043), such that the association of perceived stress and HCC decreased as resilience scores increased. Resilience also moderated the indirect association of perceived stress with MetS severity via HCC (b = -0.039, 95% CI [-0.001; -0.100]), such that HCC mediated the association of greater perceived stress with greater MetS severity only for individuals reporting Brief Resilience Scale scores 3 or below (range: 1.17-5.00). Psychological resilience was also associated with lower MetS severity (β = -0.227, p =  0.014) independent of perceived stress and HCC.ConclusionFindings suggest that psychological resilience may serve as both a stress buffer and as a direct determinant of cardiometabolic health. These results extend literature on psychological resilience to measures of retrospective HPA axis function and MetS severity in a diverse sample.

Dataset Information

Predicting Hair Cortisol and Cortisone Concentration in Postpartum Women through Repeated Measurements of Perceived Stress.

Publications

Predicting Hair Cortisol and Cortisone Concentration in Postpartum Women through Repeated Measurements of Perceived Stress.

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