Central Serotonin Transporter Levels Are Associated with Stress Hormone Response and Anxiety

Overview

Journal Psychopharmacology (Berl)

Specialty Pharmacology

Date 2010 Jun 30

PMID 20585760

Citations 28

Authors

Matthias Reimold

Astrid Knobel

Michael A Rapp

Anil Batra

Klaus Wiedemann

Andreas Strohle

Anke Zimmer

Peter Schonknecht

Michael N Smolka

Daniel R Weinberger

David Goldman

Hans-Jurgen Machulla

Roland Bares

Andreas Heinz

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Rationale: Negative mood states are characterized by both stress hormone dysregulation and serotonergic dysfunction, reflected by altered thalamic serotonin transporter (5-HTT) levels. However, so far, no study examined the individual association between cortisol response and cerebral in vivo 5-HTT levels in patients suffering from negative mood states.

Objective: The objective of this cross-sectional study was to assess the interrelation of cortisol response, thalamic 5-HTT levels, and anxiety in healthy subjects and two previously published samples of patients with unipolar major depression (UMD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), controlling for age, gender, 5-HTT genotype, smoking, and seasonality.

Methods: Regional 5-HTT levels and cortisol response to dexamethasone-corticotropin (Dex-CRH) challenge were assessed in consecutive samples of medication-free patients suffering from UMD (N = 10) and OCD (N = 10), and 20 healthy volunteers. The intervention used was combined Dex-CRH test and [(11)C]DASB positron emission tomography. The main outcome measures were: 5-HTT binding potential (BP(ND)) in a predefined thalamic ROI, cortisol response defined as the maximum cortisol increase in the combined Dex-CRH-test, and state of anxiety from the state-trait-anxiety inventory.

Results: Reduced thalamic 5-HTT BP(ND) was associated with increased cortisol response (r = -0.35, p < 0.05; in patients: r = -0.53, p < 0.01) and with increased state anxiety (r = -0.46, p < 0.01), surviving correction for age, gender, 5-HTT genotype, smoking, and seasonality (p < 0.05). The 5-HTT genotype, on the contrary, was not significantly associated with cortisol response (p = 0.19) or negative mood (p = 0.23).

Conclusion: The association between stress hormone response, thalamic 5-HTT levels, and anxiety in patients suffering from negative mood states suggests an interaction between two major mechanisms implicated in negative mood states in humans.

Citing Articles

The Relationship Between Impulsivity Traits and In Vivo Cerebral Serotonin Transporter and Serotonin 2A Receptor Binding in Healthy Individuals: A Double-Tracer PET Study with C-11 DASB and C-11 MDL100907.

Kim J, Kim H, Son Y, Kim J Int J Mol Sci. 2025; 26(1.

PMID: 39796107 PMC: 11720673. DOI: 10.3390/ijms26010252.

Serotonergic underpinnings of obsessive-compulsive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis of neuroimaging findings.

Pastre M, Occean B, Boudousq V, Conejero I, Fabbro-Peray P, Collombier L Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2024; 79(2):48-59.

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Lopes B, Kamau-Mitchell C J Health Psychol. 2024; 29(12):1390-1403.

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Genetic contributions to brain serotonin transporter levels in healthy adults.

Bruzzone S, Nasser A, Aripaka S, Spies M, Ozenne B, Jensen P Sci Rep. 2023; 13(1):16426.

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Is serotonin transporter brain binding associated with the cortisol awakening response? An independent non-replication.

Conradi J, Svensson J, Larsen S, Frokjaer V PLoS One. 2023; 18(8):e0290663.

PMID: 37651457 PMC: 10470919. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290663.

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