Abstract
Recent studies have posited a relationship between cannabis use and the biological stress system, but this critical relationship has not been evaluated during the ultra high-risk (UHR) period immediately preceding the onset of psychotic disorders. Salivary cortisol samples were collected on 46 UHR and 29 control adolescents; these individuals were assessed for current cannabis use with a urine panel and self-report. UHR participants where separated into two groups: Current Cannabis Use (UHR-CU) and No Current Cannabis Use (UHR-NC). Healthy Control participants (HC) were free of cannabis use. Consistent with the literature, results indicate UHR individuals showed elevated cortisol levels when compared to HC participants. Further, we also observed that UHR-CU participants exhibited elevated levels when compared to both the non-using UHR and HC groups. Findings suggest that cannabis use may interact with underlying biological vulnerability associated with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis system.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 58-64 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Psychoneuroendocrinology |
| Volume | 83 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2017 |
Funding
Dr. Mittal is a consultant for Takeda Pharmaceuticals. The authors have no potential conflicts of interests to report. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (RO1MH094650) and R21/R33MH103231 to V.A.M.
Keywords
- Cannabis
- Cortisol
- HPA axis
- High-Risk
- Prodrome
- Schizophrenia
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Endocrine and Autonomic Systems
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Biological Psychiatry
- Endocrinology
- Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
