RECENT LIFE STRESSORS AND BIOLOGICAL MARKERS IN NEWLY ADMITTED PSYCHOTIC-PATIENTS

The association of recent life stressor severity to putative biologica l markers of stress was examined in 34 newly admitted patients with ac ute psychosis. Of the biological variables examined, only pretreatment admission serum cortisol was correlated with stressor severity. Pretr eatment serum prolactin, plasma homovanillic acid (HVA) and methoxyhyd roxyphenethylglycol were not associated with severity of recent life s tressors. We controlled for clinical and psychosocial variables that m ight affect the relationship of stressor severity to biological marker s, and found that duration of psychotic symptoms was negatively correl ated with stressor severity; however, when both cortisol and duration were entered in a stepwise multiple regression analysis, only pretreat ment admission cortisol remained significantly and positively correlat ed with stressor severity. These findings suggest that serum cortisol may be a useful biological marker when investigating the relationship of life stress to episode onset. In addition, pretreatment HVA was cor related with early neuroleptic response but not with stressor severity , suggesting that HVA has value as a predictor of response independent of recent life stressors. (C) 1997 Society of Biological Psychiatry.