Fingernail cortisol: A marker of major depressive disorder or early life stress?. (September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fischer, S; Laufer, S; Schumacher, S
• Is Part Of: Psychoneuroendocrinology. Volume 131(2021)Supplement
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Subjects: Psychoneuroendocrinology -- Periodicals; Endocrinology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Neuropsychoendocrinologie -- Périodiques; 616.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105469
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-4530

Abstract

Abstract : Hypercortisolism is a key feature of major depressive disorder (MDD) and has been hypothesised to result from early life stress. Fingernail cortisol is a highly accessible marker of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis which is not subject to state-like confounders. We investigated, for the first time, whether fingernail cortisol could distinguish individuals according to the presence of MDD and early life stress. N=112 individuals from the general population were recruited. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and a clinical interview were administered to create four groups: n=31 without trauma/without MDD, n=24 with trauma/without MDD, n=22 without trauma/with MDD, and n=27 with trauma/with MDD. All participants grew their nails for 14 days to determine cortisol. The four groups differed in their nail cortisol (F(3, 95)=2.77, p=.046, part. eta squared=0.080). Post-hoc tests indicated that the group without trauma/with MDD had higher cortisol than the group without trauma/without MDD (p=.011) and the group with trauma/with MDD (p=.018). Fingernail cortisol may serve as a means to identify subgroups of individuals with MDD. Its high accessibility and robustness render it a promising methodology.