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Genetic influences on hormonal markers of chronic hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal function in human hair

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2017

E. M. Tucker-Drob ,
A. D. Grotzinger ,
D. A. Briley ,
L. E. Engelhardt ,
F. D. Mann ,
M. Patterson ,
C. Kirschbaum ,
E. K. Adam ,
J. A. Church  and
J. L. Tackett
...Show all authors
E. M. Tucker-Drob*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX,USA Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX,USA
A. D. Grotzinger
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX,USA
D. A. Briley
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
L. E. Engelhardt
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX,USA
F. D. Mann
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX,USA
M. Patterson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX,USA
C. Kirschbaum
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden,Germany
E. K. Adam
Affiliation:
Deparment of Human Development and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
J. A. Church
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX,USA
J. L. Tackett
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
K. P. Harden
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX,USA Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX,USA
*
*Address for correspondence: E. M. Tucker-Drob, Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin, 108 E. Dean Keeton Stop A8000, Austin, TX 78712-0187, USA. (Email: tuckerdrob@utexas.edu)
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Abstract

Background

Cortisol is the primary output of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis and is central to the biological stress response, with wide-ranging effects on psychiatric health. Despite well-studied biological pathways of glucocorticoid function, little attention has been paid to the role of genetic variation. Conventional salivary, urinary and serum measures are strongly influenced by diurnal variation and transient reactivity. Recently developed technology can be used to measure cortisol accumulation over several months in hair, thus indexing chronic HPA function.

Method

In a socio-economically diverse sample of 1070 twins/multiples (ages 7.80–19.47 years) from the Texas Twin Project, we estimated effects of sex, age and socio-economic status (SES) on hair concentrations of cortisol and its inactive metabolite, cortisone, along with their interactions with genetic and environmental factors. This is the first genetic study of hair neuroendocrine concentrations and the largest twin study of neuroendocrine concentrations in any tissue type.

Results

Glucocorticoid concentrations increased with age for females, but not males. Genetic factors accounted for approximately half of the variation in cortisol and cortisone. Shared environmental effects dissipated over adolescence. Higher SES was related to shallower increases in cortisol with age. SES was unrelated to cortisone, and did not significantly moderate genetic effects on either cortisol or cortisone.

Conclusions

Genetic factors account for sizable proportions of glucocorticoid variation across the entire age range examined, whereas shared environmental influences are modest, and only apparent at earlier ages. Chronic glucocorticoid output appears to be more consistently related to biological sex, age and genotype than to experiential factors that cluster within nuclear families.

Keywords

Cortisolgene–age interactionhair hormoneshypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axisquantitative genetics
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 47 , Issue 8 , June 2017 , pp. 1389 - 1401
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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