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Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry 2010;17(2):86-93. Published online: Feb, 1, 2010
Objectives:The aim of this research is to determine the effects of depression and anxiety symptoms of schizophrenic psychopathology on the HPA axis.
Methods:Twenty patients with schizophrenia were included and divided into the medication non-exposed group(n = 10) and the medication exposed group(n = 10). Evaluated scales were the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale(PANSS), Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms(SANS), Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms(SAPS), Hamilton Depression Inventory(HAM-D) and Hamilton Anxiety Inventory (HAM-A), and then the combined Dexamethasone/Corticotropin Releasing Hormone(DEX/CRH) test was conducted to determine the basal level, the peak level and the area under the curve(AUC) of cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone(ACTH).
Results:When the correlations between each psychopathology and cortisol level or ACTH AUC value were analyzed, HAM-D showed a negative correlation, whereas HAM-A showed a positive correlation. Also, the non-depression group(HAM-D ≤ 18) showed higher cortisol and ACTH concentrations than the depression group(HAM-D > 18), and the anxiety group(HAM-A ≥ 14) showed significantly higher concentrations than the non-anxiety group(HAM-D < 14)(p < 0.05). Also, as for the comparison between the medication non-exposed group and the medication exposed group, the non-exposed group showed significantly higher cortisol and ACTH concentration than exposed group(p < 0.05).
Conclusion:This study suggest that anxiety symptoms rather than depression symptoms are related to the increased activity of the HPA axis of schizophrenics.
Keywords Schizophrenia;HPA axis;Anxiety;Depression.