ArticleBMC psychiatry2021
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression severity in sexually assaulted women: hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis alterations.
Article in BMC psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed.
- Anxiety and Depression in Women's Cardiovascular Health: Risk Modifiers, Mechanisms and Clinical Implications.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2026Review
- Post-traumatic stress disorder and cardiometabolic dysfunction: Molecular mechanisms and therapeutic targets.iScience · 2026Review
- Early-Life Stress in the HPA Axis and MR/GR Receptors in the Development of Depression.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Review
- The relationship between childhood trauma, rs1360780 genotypes,European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Article
- Biomarker-Sleep Correlations in PTSD: Glutamine, Glutathione, Caspase-1, and BDNF Levels Assessed Using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Addendum.Current issues in molecular biology · 2025Article
- Effects of Exposure to Life Stressors, Perceived Stress, and Psychopathological Symptoms on Cortisol Awakening Response: Individual Differences in Resilience.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2025Article
- Mothers' psychopathology and their adult offspring's cortisol level in a Rwandan sample.The South African journal of psychiatry : SAJP : the journal of the Society of Psychiatrists of South Africa · 2025Article
- The Effects of Bioactive Compounds on PTSD Treatment.Current neuropharmacology · 2025Review
- Post traumatic stress disorder associated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation and physical illness.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2024Review
- Effects of genetically predicted posttraumatic stress disorder on autoimmune phenotypes.Translational psychiatry · 2024Article
- Assessing and Modelling of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Using Molecular and Functional Biomarkers.Biology · 2023Review
- Exploring gene-drug interactions for personalized treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.Frontiers in computational neuroscience · 2023Article
- Changes in the Serum Concentration Levels of Serotonin, Tryptophan and Cortisol among Stress-Resilient and Stress-Susceptible Individuals after Experiencing Traumatic Stress.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Glucocorticoid-glucocorticoid receptor-HCN1 channels reduce neuronal excitability in dorsal hippocampal CA1 neurons.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Article
- Nutraceutical Interventions for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Animal Models: A Focus on the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Adiponectin gene polymorphisms and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among female rape survivors: an exploratory study.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2022Article
- Prospective Association of Circulating Adipokines with Cardiometabolic Risk Profile Among Women: The Rape Impact Cohort Evaluation Study.Women's health reports (New Rochelle, N.Y.) · 2022Article
- Sex Differences in Depression Caused by Early Life Stress and Related Mechanisms.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Review
- Concentrations of Salivary Cortisol in Victims of Intimate Partner Violence According to the CIRCORT Database.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Interpersonal violence: Serious sequelae for heart disease in women.World journal of cardiology · 2021Review
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Funding
Abstract
backgroundSexual assault is implicated in several adverse psychological and physical health outcomes, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. Neurobiological research has shown variations related to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, immune alterations, metabolic function, and brain circuitry. Although these mechanisms have been extensively studied, the results have demonstrated different outcomes in PTSD.
methodsWe compared the plasma adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and salivary cortisol levels of fifty-eight women with PTSD developed after sexual assault to those of forty-four female controls with no history of trauma. We also evaluated the psychiatric diagnosis and symptom severity of PTSD and depression. The participants' clinical conditions were associated with their hormonal levels to assess whether symptom severity was related to hormonal imbalance.
resultsA large percentage of sexually assaulted women had PTSD and comorbid depression. The ACTH levels were higher in the PTSD group than the control group and increased as PTSD severity increased, considering depressive symptoms, measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) (p < 0.0001), as well as PTSD symptoms, measured by subscale D of the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS-5) (p = 0.045) and the CAPS-5 total scale (p = 0.026). Cortisol levels measured at 10 pm were higher for the PTSD group than the control group (p = 0.045, p = 0.037, respectively), and the cortisol awakening response showed elevated cortisol levels for the PTSD group.
conclusionsThese results show a correlation between symptom severity and HPA axis imbalance in patients with PTSD. Elevated ACTH and an elevated cortisol response in patients with comorbid depressive symptoms were the opposite of the expected response for patients with PTSD only. This association leads to the hypothesis that the neurobiological alterations of PTSD are related to the type of symptoms presented and their severity. These manifestations likely influence the disease course, prognosis and response to treatment. These outcomes highlight the need to discuss particular neurobiological alterations in patients with PTSD developed after sexual assault, mainly those with severe depressive symptoms.
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