Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, cortisol, mood state and smoking cessation: Relationship to relapse status at 4-week follow-up

Natalie A. Ceballos, Mustafa N al'Absi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

It has been hypothesized that increased baseline dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) levels may act as a natural antidepressant to attenuate negative affect during cocaine withdrawal and abstinence, decreasing the probability of relapse. The current study extends this model to assess factors related to risk of relapse in a sample of 68 nicotine dependent participants. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to examine mood state, salivary DHEAS and cortisol levels across three assessment periods in participants who had relapsed over a 4-week follow-up period (n = 51, 23 women) compared to those who maintained abstinence (n = 17, 8 women). Total scores on the Profile of Mood States differed between those who had relapsed and those who maintained abstinence (p = 0.008). However, DHEAS and cortisol levels, as well as the ratio of cortisol to DHEAS, did not differ significantly between groups. These findings suggest that, although DHEAS-related enhancement of resiliency to withdrawal may occur, the extent of this protective effect may be modulated by additional factors that warrant further research.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)23-28
Number of pages6
JournalPharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior
Volume85
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2006

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors thank Angie Harju, Laurie Franks and Huong Timp for assistance with data collection and management. We thank Clemens Kirschbaum of the University of Dresden, Germany, for his assistance with the DHEAS and cortisol assays. This research was supported in part by grants from the National Cancer Institute (CA 88272) and National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA013435 and DA016351).

Keywords

  • Cortisol
  • Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate
  • Mood
  • Relapse
  • Smoking

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