Cohort study, 2006
Does having depression in the past affect stress hormone responses in women with PMDD?
Yes. Women with a history of depression showed reduced stress hormone responses, and this was linked to more severe premenstrual symptoms specifically in women with PMDD and depression history.
What they did
Researchers studied 26 women with PMDD and 39 without PMDD. About half of each group had a history of depression. All were free of current psychiatric illness. They measured a stress hormone called allopregnanolone during blood draws, at rest, and during mental stress tasks at 30 and 60 minutes.
What they found
Women with a history of depression, regardless of PMDD status, showed blunted (reduced) responses to mental stress at 30 and 60 minutes. They also failed to show the expected drop in hormone levels from blood draw stress to rest. In women without depression history, progesterone and allopregnanolone were correlated (r = 0.37), but in those with depression history this correlation was weak (r = 0.16). In women with PMDD and depression history, lower baseline allopregnanolone and blunted stress responses predicted more severe premenstrual symptoms.
What it means for you
A history of depression is linked to changes in how the body's stress hormones respond to challenges, including altered pathways that convert progesterone. These altered responses may explain why some women with PMDD have more severe symptoms, particularly those with depression history. The findings may be specific to women with both PMDD and depression history.
26
Women with PMDD
39
Control women
14 and 17
With depression history in each group
About the study
- Original title
- Histories of depression, allopregnanolone responses to stress, and premenstrual symptoms in women
- Authors
- Klatzkin RR, Morrow AL, Light KC et al.
- Journal
- Biological psychology
- Year
- 2006
- Study design
- Cohort study
- What was tested
- None
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2005.02.007
Topics
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