The serotonin transporter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) and cortisol stress responsiveness: preliminary evidence for a modulating role for sleep quality.

The serotonin transporter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) and cortisol stress responsiveness: preliminary evidence for a modulating role for sleep quality. Stress. 2018 May 23;:1-8 Authors: van Dalfsen JH, Markus CR Abstract The short (S) allele of a functional polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) within the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) is found to predispose the risk for stress-related affective disorders relative to the long (L) allele. Evidence suggests that elevated stress reactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis might underlie this association although there is little understanding about the origin of inconsistent findings. Since inadequate sleep is commonly known to promote HPA stress reactivity, it might well play an important modulating role. The present study tested this hypothesis by investigating whether sleep quality moderates the relationship between 5-HTTLPR and cortisol stress responsiveness. From a large 5-HTTLPR database (n = 771), a sample of healthy male and female participants homozygous for either the 5-HTTLPR S-allele (n = 25) or L-allele (n = 25) were assessed for sleep quality and salivary cortisol secretion during acute laboratory stress. Diminished sleep quality was found to exclusively potentiate cortisol stress reactivity in the homozygous L-allele genotype. Accounting for this 5-HTTLPR-dependent influence enhanced the predictive value of 5-HTTLPR on cortisol stress ...
Source: Stress - Category: Research Tags: Stress Source Type: research