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Childhood traumatic experiences and functioning of both neurobiological components of the endogenous stress response system in adult people with eating disorders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

F. Pellegrino ,
G. Cascino ,
E. Barone  and
A.M. Monteleone
F. Pellegrino*
Affiliation:
Department Of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy
G. Cascino
Affiliation:
Department Of Medicine Surgery And Dentistry - Section Of Neuroscience, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy
E. Barone
Affiliation:
Department Of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy
A.M. Monteleone
Affiliation:
Department Of Psychiatry, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

A large body of literature suggests that childhood trauma exposure is a non-specific risk factor for development of eating disorders (EDs) later in life. One potential mechanism through which early traumatic experiences may increase the risk for EDs is represented by long-lasting changes in the body stress response system.

Objectives

We investigated the activity of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis and of the sympathetic nervous system in adult ED patients with or without a history of childhood trauma exposure.

Methods

We recruited 35 women with EDs, admitted to the Eating Disorders Center of the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Naples “Luigi Vanvitelli”. Participants filled in the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), to assess exposure to childhood trauma. They were instructed to collect saliva samples at awakening and after 15, 30 and 60 minutes, in order to measure cortisol levels and salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), a marker of the sympathetic nervous system activity.

Results

According to the CTQ cut-off scores, 21 ED women were classified as maltreated (Mal) participants and 14 women as no-maltreated (noMal) ED participants. Compared to noMal ED women, Mal ED participants showed significantly decreased cortisol awakening response (CAR) and sAA morning secretion.

Conclusions

Present findings confirm that childhood trauma exposure impairs the CAR of adult patients with EDs and show that also the morning secretion of sAA is decreased in childhood maltreated adult ED patients. Therefore, our study shows for the first time a dampening in the basal activity of both components of the endogenous stress response system in childhood maltreated adult ED women.

Keywords

childhood traumaeating disordersalpha-amylasestress
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S359
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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