title: Cortisol/DHEA ratio and hippocampal volume: A pilot study in major depression and healthy controls.
abstract: Structural imaging studies investigating the relationship between hippocampal volume (HCV) and peripheral measures of glucocorticoids (GCs) have produced conflicting results in both normal populations and in individuals with MDD, raising the possibility of other modulating factors. In preclinical studies, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfate ester (DHEAS; together abbreviated, DHEA(S)) have been shown to antagonize the actions of GCs on the central nervous system. Therefore, considering the relationship of HCV to both of these hormones simultaneously may be important, although it has rarely been done in human populations. Using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the present pilot study examined the relationship between morning serum cortisol, DHEA(S), and HCV in nineteen normal controls and eighteen unmedicated subjects with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Serum cortisol and DHEA(S) were not significantly correlated with HCV across all subjects (cortisol: r=-0.165, p=0.33; DHEA: r=0.164, p=0.35; DHEAS: r=0.211, p=0.22, respectively). However, the ratios of cortisol/DHEA(S) were significantly negatively correlated with HCV in combined group (Cortisol/DHEA: r=-0.461, p=0.005; Cortisol/DHEAS: r=-0.363, p=0.03). Significant or near-significant correlations were found between some hormonal measurements and HCV in the MDDs alone (DHEA: r=0.482, p=0.059; DHEAS: r=0.507, p=0.045; cort/DHEA: r=-0.589, p=0.02; cort/DHEAS: r=-0.424p=0.10), but not in the controls alone (DHEA: r=0.070, p=0.79; DHEAS: r=0.077, p=0.77; cort/DHEA: r=-0.427, p=0.09; cort/DHEAS: r=-0.331, p=0.19). However, Group (MDDs vs controls) did not have a significant effect on the relationship between cortisol, DHEA(S), and their ratios with HCV (p>0.475 in all analyses). Although the exact relationship between serum and central steroid concentrations as well as their effects on the human hippocampus remains not known, these preliminary results suggest that the ratio of cortisol to DHEA(S), compared to serum cortisol alone, may convey additional information about "net steroid activity" with relation to HCV.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, CA, 94143, United States.
authors.forename: Rowen O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, CA, 94143, United States.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics-Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine California, 94143, United States.
authors.forename: Synthia H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Mellon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, CA, 94143, United States.
authors.forename: Elissa S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Epel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, CA, 94143, United States.
authors.forename: Victor I
authors.initials: VI
authors.lastname: Reus
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, CA, 94143, United States.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mahan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, CA, 94143, United States.
authors.forename: Rebecca L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Rosser
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, CA, 94143, United States.
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Hough
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, CA, 94143, United States.
authors.forename: Heather M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine California, 94143, United States.
authors.forename: Susanne G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, CA, 94143, United States. Electronic address: owen.wolkowitz@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Owen M
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Wolkowitz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone / Q000097:blood*; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate / Q000097:blood; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects
chemical_list: D003687:Dehydroepiandrosterone; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate; D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Cortisol; DHEA sulfate (DHEAS); Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA); Depression; Glucocorticoid; Hippocampal volume; Hippocampus; Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); Major depressive disorder (MDD)