Longitudinal hair cortisol in bipolar disorder and a mechanism based on HPA dynamics

Bipolar disorder (BD) is marked by fluctuating mood states over months to years, often with elevated cortisol levels. Elevated cortisol can also trigger mood episodes. Here, we combine longitudinal hair cortisol and mood measurements with mathematical modeling to provide a potential mechanistic link...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	iScience Vol. 27; no. 3; p. 109234
Main Authors:	Milo, Tomer, Maimon, Lior, Cohen, Ben, Haran, Dafna, Segman, Dror, Danon, Tamar, Bren, Anat, Mayo, Avi, Cohen Rappaport, Gadi, McInnis, Melvin, Alon, Uri
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Elsevier Inc 15-03-2024 Elsevier
Subjects:	Clinical neuroscience Endocrine system physiology Neuroscience Systems psychiatry Neuroscience Endocrine system physiology Systems psychiatry Clinical neuroscience
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Bipolar disorder (BD) is marked by fluctuating mood states over months to years, often with elevated cortisol levels. Elevated cortisol can also trigger mood episodes. Here, we combine longitudinal hair cortisol and mood measurements with mathematical modeling to provide a potential mechanistic link between cortisol and mood timescales in BD. Using 12 cm hair samples, representing a year of growth, we found enhanced year-scale cortisol fluctuations whose amplitude averaged 4-fold higher in BD (n = 26) participants than controls (n = 59). The proximal 2 cm of hair correlated with recent mood scores. Depression (n = 266) and mania (n = 273) scores from a longitudinal study of BD showed similar frequency spectra. These results suggest a mechanism for BD in which high emotional reactivity excites the slow timescales in the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis to generate elevated months-scale cortisol fluctuations, triggering cortisol-induced mood episodes. [Display omitted] •Longitudinal hair cortisol from bipolar and control participants•Cortisol and mood scales show similar elevated year-scale fluctuations•Depression scales correlate with proximal hair cortisol•Proposed mechanism where cortisol fluctuations trigger mood episodes Clinical neuroscience; Endocrine system physiology; Neuroscience; Systems psychiatry
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 These authors contributed equally Lead contact
ISSN:	2589-0042 2589-0042
DOI:	10.1016/j.isci.2024.109234