Role of stress in the pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome

Hypercortisolemic depression is associated with the metabolic syndrome in late-life

“…Our results show that the relationship between depression and the metabolic syndrome extends to an older population. In addition, the involvement of the HPA-axis in the link between depression and the metabolic syndrome has been hypothesized by others (Rosmond, 2005), but no study has tested this directly. Our study provides evidence for the proposition that elevated cortisol levels increase the risk of the metabolic syndrome.…”

“…Vitaliano et al (2002) proposed that chronic stress causes depression and successive poor health habits that can lead to the metabolic syndrome and subsequent coronary heart disease. On the other hand more biological mechanisms have been proposed (Rosmond, 2005). Probably one of the most important biological mechanisms is the dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA)-axis, of which cortisol is an essential component.…”

Abnormal serum lipid profile in Brazilian police officers with post-traumatic stress disorder

“…Increased catecholamine levels result in upregulation of lipoprotein lipase, leading to increased concentrations of free fatty acids (FFA) in the serum that are transformed by the liver into cholesterol and triglycerides. Cortisol, on the other hand, increases the deposition of abdominal fat, which is more sensitive to lipolitic agents and related to insulin resistance (Rosmond, 2005). Elevated lipid profiles in turn may mediate longer term deleterious effects on physical health including heart disease and stroke.…”

Basal functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and psychological distress in recreational ecstasy polydrug users

“…Similar elevation is also associated with neuropsychological and cognitive deficits; for example, in patients with mild cognitive impairment and global amnesia (Arsenault-Lapierre et al, 2010, Wolf et al, 2005, in individuals with hippocampal damage (Buchanan et al, 2004) and is a feature of individuals characterised as being in ill-health . Similarly, daytime hypersecretion of cortisol is observed in individuals experiencing high levels of subjective distress and traumatic and / or uncontrollable chronic stressors (e.g., Miller et al, 2007) and is associated with a range of deleterious consequences for health and wellbeing (e.g., Rosmond, 2005;Elenkov, 2004;Gold et al, 1998;Lupien et al, 1998).…”

“…In support, dysregulated diurnal cortisol profiles have been associated with a range of deleterious health outcomes including increased upper-respiratory infections (Edwards et al, 2003), increased frequencies of minor health complaints (Lovell et al, 2011(Lovell et al, , 2012) and earlier mortality rates following breast cancer (Bower et al, 2000;Sephton et al, 2000,). Hypersecretion of cortisol across the day has been linked to the metabolic syndrome (Rosmond, 2005), immunologic decline (Elenkov, 2004), the development of mood disorders (Gold et al, 1998) and cognitive dysfunction (Lupien et al, 1998). In contrast, diurnal hyposecretion has been associated with increased risk of the development of autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis (Masi & Chrousos, 1996), Sjögren's syndrome (Johnson et al, 1998) and dermatitis (Buske-Kirschbaum et al, 2002).…”