TY - JOUR
T1 - Increases in stress hormone levels in a UK population during the COVID-19 pandemic
T2 - A prospective cohort study
AU - Jia, Ru
AU - Ayling, Kieran
AU - Coupland, Carol
AU - Chalder, Trudie
AU - Massey, Adam
AU - Nater, Urs
AU - Broadbent, Elizabeth
AU - Gasteiger, Norina
AU - Gao, Wei
AU - Kirschbaum, Clemens
AU - Vedhara, Kavita
N1 - Funding Information:
K.A. acknowledges financial support from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research. T.C. acknowledges financial support from the Department of Health via the NIHR Specialist Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health award to the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London. C.C. acknowledges support from the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. No other funding supported the work described in this manuscript.
Funding Information:
K.A. acknowledges financial support from the National Institute for Health Research ( NIHR ) School for Primary Care Research. T.C. acknowledges financial support from the Department of Health via the NIHR Specialist Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health award to the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London. C.C. acknowledges support from the NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. No other funding supported the work described in this manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors
PY - 2023/2
Y1 - 2023/2
N2 - Background: Research suggests that psychological factors may influence vulnerability to SARS-CoV-2 infection, although the mechanisms are unclear. Purpose: We examined whether the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis may be a possible mechanism, by measuring the relationship between indices of psychological distress and cortisone in hair (hairE) in a UK cohort during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Participants (N = 827) provided two 3 cm hair samples over a 6-month period between April-September 2020. Samples reflected hairE in the 3 months prior to the collection date. Results: HairE in the first samples (T1: commenced April 2020) did not differ significantly from pre-pandemic population norms. However, hairE in the second samples (T2: commenced July 2020) were significantly higher than T1 and pre-pandemic population norms, with a 23% increase between T1 and T2. Linear regressions, controlling for age and gender, demonstrated that at both timepoints, hairE levels were greatest in people with a history of mental health difficulties. In addition, stress reported at T1 predicted greater hairE at T2 and a greater change in hairE between T1 and T2. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that during the COVID-19 pandemic hairE was substantially elevated across a large community cohort, with greatest levels in those with a history of mental health difficulties and greatest changes in those reporting greatest levels of stress early in the pandemic. Further research is required with verified SARS-CoV-2 outcomes to determine whether the HPA axis is among the mechanisms by which a history of mental health difficulties and stress influence SARS-CoV-2 outcomes.
AB - Background: Research suggests that psychological factors may influence vulnerability to SARS-CoV-2 infection, although the mechanisms are unclear. Purpose: We examined whether the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis may be a possible mechanism, by measuring the relationship between indices of psychological distress and cortisone in hair (hairE) in a UK cohort during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Participants (N = 827) provided two 3 cm hair samples over a 6-month period between April-September 2020. Samples reflected hairE in the 3 months prior to the collection date. Results: HairE in the first samples (T1: commenced April 2020) did not differ significantly from pre-pandemic population norms. However, hairE in the second samples (T2: commenced July 2020) were significantly higher than T1 and pre-pandemic population norms, with a 23% increase between T1 and T2. Linear regressions, controlling for age and gender, demonstrated that at both timepoints, hairE levels were greatest in people with a history of mental health difficulties. In addition, stress reported at T1 predicted greater hairE at T2 and a greater change in hairE between T1 and T2. Conclusions: These findings demonstrate that during the COVID-19 pandemic hairE was substantially elevated across a large community cohort, with greatest levels in those with a history of mental health difficulties and greatest changes in those reporting greatest levels of stress early in the pandemic. Further research is required with verified SARS-CoV-2 outcomes to determine whether the HPA axis is among the mechanisms by which a history of mental health difficulties and stress influence SARS-CoV-2 outcomes.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Hair cortisol
KW - Hair cortisone
KW - Mental health
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - Stress
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85145593587&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105992
DO - 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105992
M3 - Article
C2 - 36495625
AN - SCOPUS:85145593587
SN - 0306-4530
VL - 148
JO - Psychoneuroendocrinology
JF - Psychoneuroendocrinology
M1 - 105992
ER -
