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. 2022 Jul:141:105747.
doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105747. Epub 2022 Mar 25.

Methods for characterizing ovarian and adrenal hormone variability and mood relationships in peripubertal females

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Methods for characterizing ovarian and adrenal hormone variability and mood relationships in peripubertal females

Elizabeth Andersen et al. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2022 Jul.

Abstract

Peripubertal females are at elevated risk for developing affective illness compared to males, yet biological mechanisms underlying this sex disparity are poorly understood. Female risk for depression remains elevated across a woman's reproductive lifespan, implicating reproductive hormones. A sensitivity to normal hormone variability during reproductive transition events (e.g., perimenopause) precipitates affective disturbances in susceptible women; however, the extent of hormone variability during the female pubertal transition and whether vulnerability to peripubertal hormone flux impacts affective state change in peripubertal females has not been studied. 52 healthy peripubertal females (ages 11-14) provided 8 weekly salivary samples and mood ratings. 10 salivary ovarian and adrenal hormones (e.g., estrone, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)) were analyzed weekly for 8 weeks using an ultrasensitive assay to characterize the female peripubertal hormone environment and its association with affective state. Hormone variability indices, including standard deviation, mean squared and absolute successive differences of the 8 weekly measurements were analyzed by menarche status. Within-person partial correlations were computed to determine the strength of the relationship between weekly change in hormone level and corresponding mood rating for each participant. As expected, results indicated that hormone variability was greater for post- relative to pre-menarchal females and with advancing pubertal development, yet pregnenolone-sulfate and aldosterone did not differ by menarche status. Mood sensitivity to changes in estrone was exhibited by 57% of participants, whereas 37% were sensitive to testosterone and 6% were sensitive to DHEA changes. The present results offer novel evidence that a substantial proportion of peripubertal females appear to be mood sensitive to hormone changes and may inform future investigations on the biological mechanisms underlying hormone-induced affect dysregulation in peripubertal females.

Keywords: Estrone; Hormone variability; Mood; Peripuberty; Pubertal transition; Testosterone.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations of Interest. The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Pre-and post-menarchal hormone variability.
Weekly measurements of estrone (E1, pg/mL), testosterone (T, pg/mL) and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA, pg/mL) are presented for pre- (n=29) and post-menarchal (n=24) participants.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Weekly hormone change and mood relationships by sensitivity profile.
Model-based estimates of the relationships between weekly mood rating (z-score) and change in A) estrone (pg/mL) and B) testosterone (pg/mL) for each hormone-sensitivity group.

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