Psoriasis severity and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function: results from the CALIPSO study

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease that significantly impacts life quality, being associated with stress and mental disorders. We investigated whether the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis was associated with psoriasis severity, daily life stress and anxiety, and depressive symptoms. In this ancillary study, which was part of the CALIPSO (coronary artery calcium in psoriasis) study, saliva was collected from 102 patients with psoriasis immediately upon awakening, 30, and 60 min after awakening, at 2:00 pm and at bedtime (five time points) to determine salivary cortisol levels. We used Pearson's correlation coefficient to evaluate the association of clinical and psychopathological variables with HPA activity. We found a direct correlation between bedtime cortisol and psoriasis severity evaluated by the psoriasis area severity index (PASI; r=0.39, P<0.001). No correlations between other clinical and psychopathological variables or with other cortisol assessments were observed. The findings indicated that HPA dysfunction may be present in psoriasis, as bedtime cortisol was correlated with psoriasis severity. Our study is limited by the lack of a control group; therefore, we were not able to explore whether these cortisol values were different compared with a concurrent, healthy sample.

Influence of Antedorsal Thalamic nuclei on the hypophyseal-adrenal axis and cardiac beta receptors in tars submitted to vatriable chronic stress

The limbic structures play an important role in the control of the neuroendocrine and sympathical adrenal function in basal and stress conditions. This work was undertaken to evaluate plasma ACTH, adrenocortical activity, cardiac adrenoceptors density and affnity response to variable chronic stress (VCS) in anterodorsal thalamic nuclei (ADTN) lesioned rats. Thirty days after lesion, shamlesioned stressed animals increased plasma ACTH and corticosterone as compared to sham-lesioned unstressed animals (p<0.05); lesioned rats increased ACTH levels after VCS (p<0.05) as compared unstressed-lesioned rats. Whereas in sham-lesion plasma corticosterone (C) increased after stress. in lesioned animals (C) remained unchanged as compared to unstressed-lesioned animals. In the stressed groups, adrenal C contents were below those found in unstressed rats. Beta-receptors affinity, in all the experimental groups, was similar, but VCS sham-lesioned animals underwent a significant increase in cardiac D-adrenergic receptors density when compared with basal and lesioned groups (P<0.001). Our findings would demonstrate that the increment in cardiac Beta adrenoceptors density appears as a consequence of the increase in ACTH, plasma corticosterone and sympathetic response provoked by stress situations. ADTN lesion attenuated this hipophisoadrenal system response to chronic stress as well as the above mentioned cardiac beta adrenoceptors density increment.