Increased hair testosterone but unaltered hair cortisol in female patients with borderline personality disorder.
A number of studies have reported on dysfunctions in steroid secretion, including altered cortisol and testosterone levels in borderline personality disorder (BDP) patients compared to healthy controls. The present study extends findings from blood and saliva studies to the cumulative measure of hair steroids. We investigated women with BPD (n=18) and age- and education-matched healthy women (n=17). We did not find differences between BPD patients and healthy women (p=0.40) concerning hair cortisol levels but increased hair testosterone levels among BPD patients compared to controls (p=0.03). These results remained when restricting the analyses to unmedicated patients. Our data indicate altered long-term testosterone but not cortisol levels in females with BPD. Future studies should address the possible impact of altered testosterone on medical illness processes including metabolic syndrome in this population.
Department of Medical Psychology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany.
Lucia
L
Dettenborn
Department of Biopsychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Clemens
C
Kirschbaum
Department of Biopsychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Wei
W
Gao
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany; Asklepios Fachklinikum Tiefenbrunn, Rosdorf, Germany.
Carsten
C
Spitzer
Department of Psychiatry, Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany.
Stefan
S
Roepke
Department of Psychiatry, Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany.
Christian
C
Otte
Department of Psychiatry, Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin, Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: katja.wingenfeld@charite.de.
Katja
K
Wingenfeld
D000328:Adult; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis*; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000503:physiopathology; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000503:physiopathology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D013739:Testosterone / Q000032:analysis*
D013739:Testosterone; D006854:Hydrocortisone
Hair cortisol; borderline personality disorder; hair testosterone