Review: Replication of cortisol circadian rhythm: new advances in hydrocortisone replacement therapy

Chan, Sharon; Debono, Miguel

doi:10.1177/2042018810380214

Cited by 192 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 62 publications

(89 reference statements)

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“…As expected, the post hoc comparisons revealed an increased salivary cortisol level at both 60-and 120-min post-cortisol administration in the cortisol group compared with the placebo group (po0.001; Table 1). We also observed the decay of cortisol levels over time in the placebo group, and this decay can be explained by the immediate elevation of cortisol due to exposure to laboratory environments and changes reflecting circadian rhythm (Chan and Debono, 2010;Dickerson and Kemeny, 2004).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 85%

Glucocorticoid Administration Improves Aberrant Fear-Processing Networks in Spider Phobia

Nakataki

Soravia

Schwab

et al. 2016

Neuropsychopharmacol

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Glucocorticoids reduce phobic fear in patients with anxiety disorders. Previous studies have shown that fear-related activation of the amygdala can be mediated through the visual cortical pathway, which includes the fusiform gyrus, or through other pathways. However, it is not clear which of the pathways that activate the amygdala is responsible for the pathophysiology of a specific phobia and how glucocorticoid treatment alleviates fear processing in these neural networks. We recorded the brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging in patients with spider phobia, who received either 20 mg of cortisol or a placebo while viewing pictures of spiders. We also tested healthy participants who did not receive any medication during the same task. We performed dynamic causal modelling (DCM), a connectivity analysis, to examine the effects of cortisol on the networks involved in processing fear and to examine if there was an association between these networks and the symptoms of the phobia. Cortisol administration suppressed the phobic stimuli-related amygdala activity to levels comparable to the healthy participants and reduced subjective phobic fear. The DCM analysis revealed that cortisol administration suppressed the aberrant inputs into the amygdala that did not originate from the visual cortical pathway, but rather from a fast subcortical pathway mediated by the pulvinar nucleus, and suppressed the interactions between the amygdala and fusiform gyrus. This network changes were distinguishable from healthy participants and considered the residual changes under cortisol administration. We also found that the strengths of the aberrant inputs into the amygdala were positively correlated with the severity of spider phobia. This study demonstrates that patients with spider phobia show an aberrant functional connectivity of the amygdala when they are exposed to phobia-related stimuli and that cortisol administration can alleviate this fear-specific neural connectivity.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 85%

Glucocorticoid Administration Improves Aberrant Fear-Processing Networks in Spider Phobia

Nakataki

Soravia

Schwab

et al. 2016

Neuropsychopharmacol

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“…For Addison's patients, the standard therapeutic approach involves lifelong supplementation of GCs which often fails to replicate the normal circadian GC rhythm, thus compromising the patients' quality of life (Arlt & Allolio 2003). Attempts to modify the release profiles of GC replacement medications aimed to mimic the natural GC circadian rhythm have shown promising improvements in clinical studies (Chan & Debono 2010), highlighting the physiological importance of the circadian GC rhythm.…”

Section: Gc Circadian Clock Feedbackmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endocrine regulation of circadian physiology

Tsang

Astiz

Friedrichs

et al. 2016

Journal of Endocrinology

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Endogenous circadian clocks regulate 24-h rhythms of behavior and physiology to align with external time. The endocrine system serves as a major clock output to regulate various biological processes. Recent findings suggest that some of the rhythmic hormones can also provide feedback to the circadian system at various levels, thus contributing to maintaining the robustness of endogenous rhythmicity. This delicate balance of clock-hormone interaction is vulnerable to modern lifestyle factors such as shiftwork or high-calorie diets, altering physiological set points. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on the communication between the circadian timing and endocrine systems, with a focus on adrenal glucocorticoids and metabolic peptide hormones. We explore the potential role of hormones as systemic feedback signals to adjust clock function and their relevance for the maintenance of physiological and metabolic circadian homeostasis.

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“…Salivary cortisol represents a free fraction of biologically active cortisol, and its levels and diurnal patterns have been assessed in association with acute and chronic stress. [15] In university students, salivary cortisol was elevated before and after an oral presentation and on the day of the presentation. For written exams, salivary cortisol was elevated before the exam and was high on the day of the exam, [16] indicating increased cortisol responses to anticipatory and actual stress in academic settings.…”

Section: Biobehavioral Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%