Hair cortisol concentration, cognitive, behavioral, and motor impairment in multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by the demyelinated inflammatory processes that occur within the central nervous system. Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) dysfunctions have been associated with the triggering or increase in MS symptoms. We thus aimed at evaluating motor and behavioral functions, planning skills, processing speed, and their relationship with stress through measuring hair cortisol concentration from patients with MS. The sample was composed of 40 volunteers that were clinically diagnosed with MS, along with 33 healthy adults. Evaluations included: Clinical Evaluation Form, Mini-Mental State Exam, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite Measure, Expanded Disability Status Scale, Berg Balance Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, Zoo Map task, and a hair sample to analyze cortisol levels in the last 30 days. MS patients showed highly elevated hair cortisol levels in comparison to the control group (p = 0.048). All groups presented some degree of depressive and anxiety symptoms, aside from considerable perceived stress levels. The MS group presented deficits in gait, balance, manual skills and processing speed, and this was particularly so in individuals with moderate impairments when compared to control group (p < 0.001). Individuals with MS spent less time planning on ZooMap1 (p = 0.024) and made more mistakes (p < 0.001). No correlation was found between hair cortisol and the symptoms we assessed. However, depressive symptoms and anxiety were related to perceived stress, and higher hair cortisol suggests a change in levels in the HPA axis in MS. Nevertheless, future studies will be necessary to further understand how basal hair cortisol is related to MS symptoms.

Relation between testosterone, cortisol and aggressive behavior in humans: a systematic review / Relação entre testosterona, cortisol e comportamento agressivo em humanos: uma revisão sistemática / Relación entre testosterona, cortisol y comportamiento agresivo en humanos: una revisión sistemática

Aggression is an evolutionary behavior as it has a role in survival, increasing one's access to food, shelter, status and reproduction. Testosterone and Cortisol are hormones often linked to aggressive behavior. We gathered and organized data from the last five years on the relation among Testosterone, Cortisol and aggression, while assessing the methods used by those scientific papers. A systematic review was made according to PRISMA guidelines. The search for indexed articles was performed in January 2019 using the keywords aggress* AND Testosterone AND Cortisol in three databases: Web of Science, SCOPUS and PsycInfo. The specific role of Testosterone and Cortisol in aggressive behavior is not unanimous. However, most articles found either an increase in Testosterone or a decrease in Cortisol associated with this behavior. There is the need for standardizing methods of triggering and assessing aggressive behavior, taking into account the assessment of social desirability and its impacts.

Agressividade é um comportamento evolutivo, tendo um papel na sobrevivência ao aumentar o acesso à comida, abrigo, status social e reprodução. A testosterona e o cortisol são hormônios frequentemente associados a comportamentos agressivos. Este estudo reúne e organiza dados dos últimos cinco anos sobre a relação entre testosterona, cortisol e agressividade, avaliando também os métodos utilizados pelos artigos. Uma revisão sistemática foi conduzida segundo as diretrizes do PRISMA. Uma pesquisa eletrônica de artigos foi realizada em janeiro de 2019, usando as palavras-chave agress* AND Testosterone AND Cortisol em três bancos de dados: Web of Science, SCOPUS e PsycInfo. O papel desses hormônios no comportamento agressivo não é unânime, porém a maioria dos artigos incluídos encontrou um aumento na testosterona ou uma diminuição no cortisol, associados a esse comportamento. Há a necessidade de padronizar os métodos de induzir e de avaliar agressividade, levando em conta a desejabilidade social e seus impactos.

La agresividad es un comportamiento evolutivo, por desempeñar papel en la supervivencia, aumentando el acceso a comida, refugio, estatus social y reproducción. La testosterona y el cortisol son hormonas frecuentemente relacionadas con el comportamiento agresivo. Este estudio reúne y organiza datos de los últimos cinco años sobre la relación entre testosterona, cortisol y agresividad, junto a los métodos de evaluación utilizados por los artículos científicos. Se realizó una revisión sistemática de acuerdo con las directrices PRISMA. La búsqueda electrónica de artículos indexados fue realizada enero de 2019, utilizándose de las palabras clave aggress* AND Testosterone AND Cortisol en tres bases de datos: Web of Science, SCOPUS y PsycInfo. El papel de esas hormonas en el comportamiento agresivo no es unánime, aunque la mayoría de los artículos incluídos hayan hallado aumento de testosterona o disminución en cortisol, asociados a ese comportamiento. Se necesita la estandarización de los métodos de inducción y evaluación de la agresividad, teniendo en cuenta la deseabilidad social y sus impactos.