Effects of childhood trauma on HPA-axis reactivity in women free of lifetime psychopathology

Exposure to childhood trauma may induce persistent changes in Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA)-axis functioning even in the absence of current psychopathology. Because previous studies did not systematically exclude subjects with lifetime psychiatric morbidity, prevalent psychopathology may have confounded the association. In this study we investigated whether women exposed to childhood trauma, but without a history of psychiatric disorders, show alterations in HPA-axis functioning. We included 10 women exposed to significant childhood trauma and 12 non-exposed women. All women were between 29 and 64 years old, mentally and physically healthy, and without current or lifetime psychopathology. HPA-axis functioning was assessed as 1) basal activity with salivary cortisol patterns over 8 time points on two consecutive sampling days and 2) plasma cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) reactivity over 7 time points after the combined dexamethasone/corticotropin-releasing hormone (dex/CRH) challenge test. Basal salivary cortisol output did not differ between trauma-exposed compared to non-exposed women. Significantly blunted plasma cortisol and ACTH responses in response to dex/CRH administration were found in the trauma-exposed compared to the non-exposed women ( F(1,20) = 5.08, p = 0.04 and F(1,20) = 5.23, p = 0.03 respectively). Adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI), oral contraceptive use, and menopausal status, somewhat weakened the associations for cortisol as well as ACTH ( F(1,16) = 3.30, p = 0.09) and F(1,16) = 2.17, p = 0.16 respectively), but for cortisol absolute differences in point estimates were largely unaffected. Although basal cortisol patterns were similar in the two groups, exposure to childhood trauma seemed to be related to a blunted HPA-axis reactivity in women who were free of current or lifetime psychopathology.