RESEARCH - Effects of chronic prednisone therapy on mood and memory

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J Affect Disord. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2008 April 1.

Published in final edited form as:

J Affect Disord. 2007 April; 99(1-3): 279–283.

Published online 2006 October 9. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2006.09.004.

PMCID: PMC1852520

NIHMSID: NIHMS19558

Effects of chronic prednisone therapy on mood and memory

E. Sherwood Brown, M.D., Ph.D., Vera, B.A., Alan B. Frol,

Ph.D., Dixie J. Woolston, B.S., and , B.A.

From the Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern

Medical Center at Dallas

Abstract

Background

In animals, stress and corticosteroids can be associated with both

reversible and irreversible changes in the hippocampus. Changes in

memory and hippocampal structure, perhaps in part due to cortisol

elevations, are reported in some patients with mood disorders. Minimal

data are available on the effects of long term exposure to

corticosteroids on the human hippocampus. We previously reported

greater depressive symptom severity, poorer memory and smaller

hippocampal volumes in patients with asthma or rheumatic diseases

receiving long-term prednisone therapy than in controls.

Methods

In this report, patients and controls were assessed a mean of 4 years

after the first assessment to determine if depressive and manic

symptoms and cognition remained stable, improved or worsened. Seven

prednisone-treated patients and six controls were identified and

agreed to reassessment with psychiatric symptom and neurocognitive

measures. Follow-up MRIs for hippocampal volume analysis were

available for two prednisone-treated participants.

Results

With the exception of an increase in depressive symptoms in those

receiving prednisone, participants and controls did not show

significant change in mood or cognition from the initial assessment.

One participant discontinued prednisone and showed improvement in

psychiatric symptoms and cognition. Hippocampal volumes were available

in two prednisone-treated participants and showed inconsistent

findings.

Limitations

A limitation is the small sample size.

Conclusions

Our findings, although preliminary in nature, suggest that long-term

prednisone therapy is associated with initial changes in mood, memory

and hippocampal volume that appear to stabilize over time.

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http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed & pubmedid=1703006\

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