Impact of oral contraceptive use on glucocorticoid sensitivity of pro-inflammatory cytokine production after psychosocial stress

Adolescents’ cortisol responses to awakening and social stress; Effects of gender, menstrual phase and oral contraceptives. The TRAILS study

“…With regard to menstrual cycle phase, we found no significant effect of menstrual cycle phase on adolescents' cortisol responses which is contrary to previously reported findings in adults (Altemus et al, 1997;Kirschbaum et al, 1999;Wolf et al, 2001;Rohleder et al, 2003). But we do see a similar pattern as observed in adults, that adolescent girls in the follicular phase tended to have lower cortisol levels than girls in the luteal phase.…”

“…With respect to the influences of OC on the cortisol response to awakening (CAR), Pruessner et al (1997) report an attenuated CAR, but this was not replicated by Wüst et al (2000). When confronted with a social stress task, OC users had lower saliva cortisol compared to free-cycling women in several studies (Kirschbaum et al, 1999;Rohleder et al, 2003). However, Brody (2002) reported no differences between OC users and nonusers in cortisol responses to a social stress test.…”

“…Differences in phase have not been associated with the cortisol response to awakening (Kudielka and Kirschbaum, 2003), but fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone levels may influence the response and feedback-loop of the HPAaxis during stress. Women in the luteal phase have shown higher cortisol responses than women in the follicular phase (Altemus et al, 1997;Kirschbaum et al, 1999;Wolf et al, 2001;Rohleder et al, 2003). This suggests a reduced sensitivity of the HPA feedback loop in periods when estrogen levels are high.…”

Effects of cortisol on emotional but not on neutral memory are correlated with peripheral glucocorticoid sensitivity of inflammatory cytokine production

“…Glucocorticoid sensitivity can be assessed by coincubation of mitogen-stimulated whole blood or cell cultures in-vitro with different concentrations of glucocorticoids and measuring the relative suppression of stimulated cytokine production. We and others have shown that GC sensitivity of the inflammatory response is subject to inter-and intra-individual variation and responds to acute psychosocial stress and exercise (DeRijk et al, 1996;Rohleder et al, 2001;Rohleder et al, 2002;Rohleder et al, 2003a;Rohleder et al, 2003b;Rohleder et al, 2004). Long-term changes have also been documented in populations suffering from chronic stress (Miller et al, 2002) or vital exhaustion (Wirtz et al, 2003).…”

Cortisol and memory retrieval in women: influence of menstrual cycle and oral contraceptives

“…With respect to women using OCs, one study observed a higher GC sensitivity of proinflammatory cytokines after stress exposure in this group when compared to free cycling women. It has been suggested that this could be a compensatory mechanism for the blunted free cortisol stress response of OC users (Rohleder et al 2003).…”