Physiology & behavior
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Physiology & behavior · Apr 2012
ReviewMediators of allostasis and systemic toxicity in bipolar disorder.
Bipolar disorder is associated with a high rate of medical and psychiatric comorbidities. This burden of illness, along with cognitive impairment, is seen particularly in late cases, after multiple episodes. These changes in clinical presentation that take place over time have been recently conceptualized as "neuroprogression". ⋯ Allostatic load is engendered by several factors which interact in a nonlinear manner. Glucocorticoids are fundamental mediators; when chronically in excess, glucocorticoids initiate a series of bodily dysfunctions that may include cortisol-related mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, inflammation and decrease in the expression of neuroprotective factors. In the present review we examine the role of allostatic load in the illness progression that takes place in bipolar disorder.
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Physiology & behavior · Apr 2012
The salivary alpha amylase over cortisol ratio as a marker to assess dysregulations of the stress systems.
Different factors have been associated with changes in the regulation of the two major stress response systems of the human body, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Changes in these systems have been associated with various (psycho)pathologies across adulthood, and are thus frequently assessed within the context of allostatic load. Early Life Adversity (ELA) has been identified as one such factor. ⋯ Using a specific formula to determine the ratio of sAA over cortisol, we found a systematically stronger positive relationship with indexes of chronic stress and depression when compared to cortisol over sAA, or either marker alone. Our findings suggest that the ratio of sAA over cortisol might be a better marker of stress systems dysregulation than the ratio of cortisol over sAA, sAA or cortisol alone. The usefulness of this marker for other chronic stress states as found in allostatic load is discussed.