Jos H.H. Thijssen

Correlations among Salivary Testosterone, Mood, and Selective Attention to Threat in Humans

An experiment was designed to investigate the relation among salivary testosterone, mood, and selective attention to threat. The participant group consisted of 32 nonclinical subjects (16 men and 16 women). Individuals completed the Profile Of Mood States (POMS) and performed a pictorial emotional Stroop task measuring selective attention to angry faces. Anticipating a time lag between testosterone (as measured in saliva) and cognitive emotional behavior, multiple time-coursed saliva samples were taken preceding the assessment of questionnaire and task for every subject. In both sexes, salivary testosterone was significantly related to mood (i.e., anger and tension) and selective attention to angry faces when saliva samples were taken 6 h before questionnaire and task assessment. Research on the relation between testosterone and human behavior might benefit by taking into account time lags between the behavioral manifestations and the continuously changing levels of testosterone.

A single administration of testosterone induces cardiac accelerative responses to angry faces in healthy young women.

Recently, it was demonstrated how individuals with high levels of testosterone selectively attend toward angry faces. It was argued that this suggests that high levels of testosterone are associated with an aggressive, dominating personality style. In this study, the authors used a double-blind, placebo-controlled design to examine whether exogenous testosterone would induce cardiac acceleration in response to angry faces. Participants (healthy young women) were exposed to neutral, happy, or angry faces. Administration of a single dosage of testosterone (0.5 mg) induced an accelerative cardiac response to angry faces. It is argued that this effect is due to the encouragement of dominance behavior and the inclination toward aggression. Possible mechanisms behind testosterone-driven changes in behavior are discussed with relevance to steroid-responsive networks in the limbic system that drive and control motivational and physiological aspects of social behavior.

Concentration of sex steroids in adipose tissue after menopause.

Adipose tissue is a site of uptake, storage, action, and metabolism of sex steroids. After menopause aromatization of androgens to estrogens in adipose tissue is one of the most important sources of estrogen in the circulation and for peripheral tissues. The aim of this study was to estimate local sex steroid concentrations in breast and abdominal subcutaneous (s.c.) adipose tissue, to compare them with plasma concentrations and to investigate possible correlations with body mass index (BMI). The patients were postmenopausal women undergoing surgery for non-oncological reasons (Group A; n = 35) and breast cancer patients (group B; n = 19). The concentrations of estrone, 17 beta-estradiol, estrone sulfate, 17 beta-estradiol sulfate, androstenedione, androstenediol (androst-5-ene-3 beta, 17 beta-diol), testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone were measured. The method was based on frozen tissue homogenization, extraction with ethanol: acetone, delipidation, extraction of estrogens with ether, and of androgens with iso-octane in toluene, followed by RIA. The mean levels of steroids were higher in fat than in plasma, apart from testosterone. Levels of sulfates of estrogens and androstenediol were higher in breast than abdominal adipose tissue, and levels of estradiol lower. Positive correlations were found between BMI and tissue and plasma concentration of both estrone and androstenedione.

Relationships between sex hormones assessed in amniotic fluid, and maternal and umbilical cord serum: what is the best source of information to investigate the effects of fetal hormonal exposure?

Levels of testosterone (T) (total and free), androstenedione (A4), dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), and estradiol (E2) were measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA) in 156 normal pregnancies (77 male and 79 female fetuses). Samples were obtained from amniotic fluid, 2nd and 3rd trimester maternal serum, and umbilical cord serum at birth. During the critical period of brain differentiation, at the beginning of the second trimester of pregnancy, sex differences in T and A4 were found in amniotic fluid and not in maternal serum. This finding adds to the fact that mostly low and nonsignificant correlations were found for the different androgenic hormones between levels assessed in amniotic fluid and maternal plasma at this particular and very sensitive period of fetal brain development. On the other hand, high correlations were found for the same hormones between the samples of maternal serum in the 2nd and the 3rd trimester. Our data show that, of all available sources, amniotic fluid seems to be the best candidate to investigate the effects of early fetal androgen exposure.

Conscious and preconscious selective attention to social threat: different neuroendocrine response patterns

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between selective attention to social threat and neuroendocrine activity. Selective attention to social threat was measured using a supraliminal (unmasked) and a subliminal (masked) version of a pictorial emotional Stroop task, comparing color-naming latencies of neutral and angry faces. Neuroendocrine activity was assessed as (pre-task to post-task) increases in salivary cortisol and testosterone. Forty subjects were randomly assigned to the unmasked or masked version of the task. Analyses for the unmasked task revealed that post-task cortisol levels were significantly increased in subjects showing selective attention to angry faces. Results for the masked task indicated that post-task cortisol and testosterone levels were significantly increased in subjects showing preconscious selective attention to angry faces. The difference in neuroendocrine activity between tasks is suggested to depend on cortical (i.e. prefrontal) control in the unmasked task. Thus, psychological affective regulatory processes were involved in the unmasked task, whereas the neuroendocrine response patterns in the masked task indicates a biologically prepared mechanism.

Adrenal androgens and aggression in conduct disorder prepubertal boys and normal controls

BACKGROUND The evidence for a role of androgens in human aggression is less convincing than in animals. We examined the relationship between androgens and aggression in prepubertal boys who were diagnosed as suffering from severe aggression and antisocial behavior. METHODS Plasma levels of testosterone (T), androstenedione (A), and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) were measured in 15 boys with a conduct disorder (CD) and 25 normal control (NC) boys. Parents and teachers of the children rated the intensity of aggression and delinquency over the last 6 months. RESULTS CD boys had significantly higher levels of DHEAS and marginally significantly higher levels of A; there were no differences in T. Moreover, DHEAS levels were significantly positively correlated with the intensity of aggression and delinquency as rated by both parents and teachers. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that adrenal androgen functioning plays an important role in the onset and maintenance, of aggression in young boys.

Effects of testosterone administration on selective aspects of object-location memory in healthy young women

Previous work has indicated that object-location memory is sensitive to sex differences as well as variations in the menstrual cycle. The goal of the present study was to further examine the hormonal basis of human spatial memory by assessing the effects of a single dose of exogenous testosterone in healthy young women on three recall conditions: positional reconstruction; object-to-position-assignment; and the combined condition in which subjects both have to reconstruct the precise locations and to link the different objects to the correct places. In the latter condition, delayed recall (3 min delay) improved with testosterone. Although the effects were only small and need further substantiation, they support the idea that testosterone may have an activational effect on selective aspects of cognitive functioning.

BASELINE SALIVARY CORTISOL LEVELS AND PRECONSCIOUS SELECTIVE ATTENTION FOR THREAT: A Pilot Study

This study was conducted to examine the relationship between baseline salivary cortisol (CORT) levels and selective attention for displays of angry faces. Selective attention was investigated using a pictorial emotional Stroop task, comparing colournaming-speed of angry and neutral faces. The task was assessed in supraliminal (unmasked) and subliminal (masked) conditions to 28 non-clinical subjects (14 male and 14 female). Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed a significant interaction between median split CORT levels (low vs. high) and masked face valence (angry vs. neutral). The latter effect was mainly due to significant facilitation in the high CORT subject-group; these subjects seemed to allocate their attention away from the masked angry face. A relation between baseline CORT levels and fast withdrawal behavior is suggested.

Report of the IFCC Working Group for Standardization of Thyroid Function Tests; Part 1: Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone

BACKGROUND Laboratory testing of serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) is an essential tool for the diagnosis and management of various thyroid disorders whose collective prevalence lies between 4% and 8%. However, between-assay discrepancies in TSH results limit the application of clinical practice guidelines. METHODS We performed a method comparison study with 40 sera to assess the result comparability and performance attributes of 16 immunoassays. RESULTS Thirteen of 16 assays gave mean results within 10% of the overall mean. The difference between the most extreme means was 39%. Assay-specific biases could be eliminated by recalibration to the overall mean. After recalibration of singlicate results, all assays showed results within the biological total error goal (22.8%), except for 1 result in each of 4 assays. For a sample with a TSH concentration of 0.016 mIU/L, 6 assays either did not report results or demonstrated CVs >20%. Within-run and total imprecision ranged from 1.5% to 5.5% and 2.5% to 7.7%, respectively. Most assays were able to match the internal QC targets within 5%. Within-run drifts and shifts were observed. CONCLUSIONS Harmonization of TSH measurements would be particularly beneficial for 3 of the 16 examined assays. These data demonstrate that harmonization may be accomplished by establishing calibration traceability to the overall mean values for a panel of patient samples. However, the full impact of the approach must be further explored with a wider range of samples. Although a majority of assays showed excellent quality of performance, some would benefit from improved within-run stability.

Report of the IFCC Working Group for Standardization of Thyroid Function Tests; Part 2: Free Thyroxine and Free Triiodothyronine

BACKGROUND Free thyroxine (FT4) and free triiodothyronine (FT3) measurements are useful in the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of thyroid disorders. The IFCC Scientific Division established a Working Group to resolve issues of method performance to meet clinical requirements. METHODS We compared results for measurement of a panel of single donor sera using clinical laboratory procedures based on equilibrium dialysis-isotope dilution-mass spectrometry (ED-ID-MS) (2 for FT4, 1 for FT3) and immunoassays from 9 manufacturers (15 for FT4, 13 for FT3) to a candidate international conventional reference measurement procedure (cRMP) also based on ED-ID-MS. RESULTS For FT4 (FT3), the mean bias of 2 (4) assays was within 10% of the cRMP, whereas for 15 (9) assays, negative biases up to -42% (-30%) were seen; 1 FT3 assay was positively biased by +22%. Recalibration to the cRMP eliminated assay-specific biases; however, sample-related effects remained, as judged from difference plots with biologic total error limits. Correlation coefficients to the cRMPs ranged for FT4 (FT3) from 0.92 to 0.78 (0.88 to 0.30). Within-run and total imprecision ranged for FT4 (FT3) from 1.0% to 11.1% (1.8% to 9.4%) and 1.5% to 14.1% (2.4% to 10.0%), respectively. Approximately half of the manufacturers matched the internal QC targets within approximately 5%; however, within-run instability was observed. CONCLUSIONS The study showed that most assays had bias largely correctable by establishing calibration traceability to a cRMP and that the majority performed well. Some assays, however, would benefit from improved precision, within-run stability, and between-run consistency.