Developmental changes in hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal activity over the transition to adolescence: Normative changes and associations with puberty

Abstract

Home baseline and laboratory stressor (Trier Social Stress Test for Children) measures of salivary cortisol were obtained from 82 participants (40 girls) aged 9, 11, 13, and 15 years. Measures of pubertal development, self-reported stress, parent reports of child depressive symptoms and fearful temperament, and cardiac measures of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity were also obtained. Significant increases in the home cortisol baselines were found with age and pubertal development. Cortisol stress reactivity differed by age group with 11-year-olds and 13-year-old boys showing blunted reactivity and 9-year-olds, 13-year-old girls, and 15-year-olds showing significant cortisol reactions. Cortisol reactivity correlated marginally with sexual maturation. Measures of sympathetic activity revealed increased sympathetic modulation with age. Higher sympathetic tone was associated with more fearful temperament, whereas greater cortisol reactivity was associated with more anxious and depressed symptoms for girls. The importance of these findings for the hypothesis that puberty-associated increases in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activity heightens the risk of psychopathology is discussed.

Dynamic molecular and anatomical changes in the glucocorticoid receptor in human cortical development

“…Basal levels of salivary and plasma CORT decrease immediately after birth, 50 and then increase with advancing age among both men and women from 9 to 83 years, [51][52][53] mirroring changes observed in rodents. 2 HPA axis stress reactivity changes dynamically over human development, decreasing in the immediate postnatal period in neonates 54 and increasing as individuals approach adolescence.…”

“…2 HPA axis stress reactivity changes dynamically over human development, decreasing in the immediate postnatal period in neonates 54 and increasing as individuals approach adolescence. 53 In adults, metaanalyses have suggested both increasing and decreasing stress responsivity with ageing. 55,56 Within the human brain, GR mRNA has been shown to be present in the vast majority of pyramidal neurons, B50% of the non-pyramidal neurons and 10% of the glia in the hippocampus and prefrontal, temporal and entorhinal cortices.…”

Genome-wide analysis of BMI in adolescents and young adults reveals additional insight into the effects of genetic loci over the life course

“…However, the effect estimates for the MC4R locus (rs571312) was slightly larger in young adults compared with adults [Supplementary Material, Table S4, beta (SE) difference ¼ 0.022 (0.012), P ¼ 0.07]. MC4R are expressed in hypothalamic tissue, the metabolic control center, which is outstandingly active during adolescence and young adulthood (29)(30)(31). In a previous study, odds ratios for eight loci (FTO, TMEM18, MC4R, TNNI3K, SEC16B, GNDPA2, QPCTL and BNDF) nominally associated with obesity in children (15) also appeared to be larger than those reported for adult obesity in the GIANT study (4).…”

Evidence of a unique and common genetic etiology between the CAR and the remaining part of the diurnal cycle: A study of 14 year-old twins

“…This is surprising on many accounts. First, basal cortisol secretion undergoes important changes during the first two decades of life, with decreasing levels noted from toddlerhood to mid-childhood followed by an opposite trend (Adam, 2006;Gunnar et al, 2009;Shirtcliff et al, 2011). These maturational changes may depend on changing social environments (e.g., daycare to formal schooling), neuroendocrine factors (e.g., sex hormones) and brain structures and functioning (e.g., prefrontal cortex; (Gunnar and Vazquez, 2006;Lupien et al, 2009).…”