ArticleScientific reports2017
Evidence for Stress-like Alterations in the HPA-Axis in Women Taking Oral Contraceptives.
Article in Scientific reports, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
44 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 89 citations in OpenAlex.
- Does Gender Influence the Relationship Between High Blood Pressure and Dementia? Highlighting Areas for Further Investigation.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2020Pooled it
- The effects of power posing on neuroendocrine levels and risk-taking.BMC psychology · 2024Trial
- Region-specific regulation of glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptor signaling in a mouse model of oral contraceptive exposure.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Advancing women's mental health: Recommendations from a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine workshop.PNAS nexus · 2026Article
- Linking combined oral contraceptive use to systemic immune marker profiles: the role of cortisol.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Article
- Cardiometabolic, Glycaemic, and Metabolic Safety of Hormonal Contraceptives in Women with Medical Conditions: A Systematic Review.International journal of women's health · 2026Review
- Identifying psychiatric comorbidities that occur following the introduction of hormonal contraception: a scoping review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Review
- Hormone Profiles After Planned Low Energy Availability Exposure in Naturally Menstruating and Hormonal Contraceptive Using Physique Athletes.European journal of sport science · 2025Observational
- Rethinking women's brain health.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2025Article
- Associations Between Stress and Hair Cortisol and Their Relationship to Alcohol Use Among Adolescents and Young Adults: An Epidemiological Cohort Study.Addiction biology · 2025Article
- Hormonal Contraceptive Use and Affective Disorders: An Updated Review.Open access journal of contraception · 2025Review
- Genetic variation associated with side effects of hormonal contraception exposure: a narrative review.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2025Review
- The relationship between hormonal contraceptives, level of anxiety and emotional awareness: pilot project.Physiological research · 2024Article
- Cannabis Dependence is Associated with Reduced Hippocampal Subregion Volumes Independently of Sex: Findings from an ENIGMA Addiction Working Group Multi-Country Study.Cannabis and cannabinoid research · 2024Article
- Plasma and salivary hormone responses to a 30-min exercise stress test in young, healthy, physically active females.Physiological reports · 2024Article
- The Influence of Menstruation and Hormonal Birth Control on the Performance of Female Collegiate Lacrosse Players.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Beyond Birth Control: The Neuroscience of Hormonal Contraceptives.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024Review
- The link between daily affective complexity and anxiety is altered by oral contraceptive use.International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology · 2024Article
- The impact of extinction timing on pre-extinction arousal and subsequent return of fear.Learning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) · 2024Article
- Methylation Patterns of the FKBP5 Gene in Association with Childhood Maltreatment and Depressive Disorders.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
20 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
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.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.