ArticlePsychoneuroendocrinology2023
Associations of early life stress with leptin and ghrelin in healthy young adults.
Article in Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dimensions of early life adversity and cardiometabolic health in adulthood: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2026Pooled it
- Glucose as fuel for HPA axis regulation: A narrative review on energy metabolism, stress reactivity, and early life adversity.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Review
- Long-term molecular embedding of early life adversity: leukocyte DNA methylation and gene expression associations from childhood to young adulthood.Epigenomics · 2026Article
- Rethinking crossover and recovery in eating disorders through a dynamic and value-sensitive framework.Medicine, health care, and philosophy · 2026Article
- Childhood trauma and physical activity link immunometabolic biomarkers and psychiatric symptoms in medically healthy adults.Acta neuropsychiatrica · 2026Article
- Early life stress, psychiatric conditions, and mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn) in medically healthy young adults.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025Article
- Increased Rate of Unique Mitochondrial DNA Deletion Breakpoints in Young Adults With Early-Life Stress.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2025Article
- Childhood adversity, accelerated GrimAge, and associated health consequences.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2024Article
- Maternal caregiving stress and metabolic health: Sexual activity as a potential buffer.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Increased plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and its associations with metabolic risk in healthy young adults with early life stress.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Frontoparietal beta event characteristics are associated with early life stress and psychiatric symptoms in adults.Brain and cognition · 2024Article
- The adipose tissue keeps the score: priming of the adrenal-adipose tissue axis by early life stress predisposes women to obesity and cardiometabolic risk.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Review
- Investigating the effects of rurality on stress, subjective well-being, and weight-related outcomes.Wellbeing, space and society · 2023Article
- Childhood sexual abuse is associated with higher total ghrelin serum levels in adulthood: results from a large, population-based study.Translational psychiatry · 2023Article
- Increased Cardiometabolic Risk in Healthy Young Adults With Early Life Stress.Psychosomatic medicineArticle
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
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Abstract
backgroundChildhood adversity is a major risk factor for cardiometabolic health problems. Stress-related changes in diet suggest a role for endocrine factors that influence dietary intake, such as leptin and ghrelin. These hormones influence metabolism and may contribute to the relationship of early adversity, mental, and cardiometabolic health. This study examined levels of leptin and ghrelin in a sample of young adults with and without early life stress (ELS).
methodsYoung adults ages 18-40 (N = 200; 68.5% female) were recruited from the community. Participants with ELS (N = 118) had childhood maltreatment, and a subset, n = 92 (78.0%) also had parental loss, and n = 65 (55.1%) also had a current psychiatric disorder. Control participants (N = 82) had no maltreatment, parental loss, or psychiatric disorders. Standardized interviews and self-reports assessed demographics, adversity, medical/psychiatric history, and health behaviors. Exclusion criteria included medical conditions and current medications other than hormonal contraceptives. Body Mass Index (BMI) and other anthropometrics were measured, and fasting plasma was assayed for total ghrelin and leptin with the Bio-Plex Pro Human Diabetes Panel.
resultsWhile ELS was significantly associated with greater leptin (r = .16, p = .025), a finding which held when adjusted for age and sex (F(3196)= 28.32, p = .011), this relationship was abolished when accounting for BMI (p = .44). Participants with ELS also had significantly lower total ghrelin (r = .21, p = .004), which held adjusting for age and sex (p = .002) and was attenuated (p = .045) when the model included BMI (F=46.82, p < .001). Current psychiatric disorder was also a significant predictor of greater leptin (r = .28, p < .001) and lower ghrelin (r = .29, p = .003). In the model with ELS and covariates, psychiatric disorder remained significant (F=7.26, p = .008) and ELS was no longer significant (p = .87). Associations with severity and recent perceived stress were also examined.
conclusionThe relationship of ELS and leptin was no longer significant when accounting for BMI, suggesting potential avenues for intervention. Ghrelin findings persisted after correction for BMI, which may be secondary to physiological differences in the regulation of these hormones (leptin is produced by adipocytes, whereas ghrelin is produced primarily in the GI tract). Lastly, these findings suggest that psychiatric functioning may be a key component contributing to the relationship of lower total ghrelin and childhood adversity.
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