Gender-specific association of alexithymia and norepinephrine/cortisol ratios. A preliminary report
Carsten Spitzer1, Stephan Brandl, Hans-Joachim Rose
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University Greifswald, Germany. spitzer@uni-greifswald.de
Objective:
Alexithymia and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) might share a neuroendocrine pattern characterized by increased urinary norepinephrine (N) and decreased cortisol (C) levels, resulting in a high N/C ratio, at least among male alcoholics. We aimed to explore if this association can also be found in other populations.
Methods:
Twenty-four-hour urine samples were obtained from 12 major depressive disorder (MDD) patients and 23 healthy controls (HC) and tested for N and free C. Participants completed the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) and the Symptom Check List (SCL).
Results:
Controlling for depression, the neuroendocrine parameters did not differ between the MDD and HC participants nor between women and men. The TAS was not associated with N, C or the N/C ratio in the MDD and HC participants nor in females alone. However, in men, the N/C ratio correlated significantly with the TAS (r = .80).
Conclusions:
Our preliminary findings indicate that alexithymia is associated with an increased noradrenergic activity and a decreased basal activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis among men. This gender difference may reflect divergent underlying neurobiological processes of alexithymia in men and women.
