Improvement in indices of cellular protection after psychological treatment for social anxiety disorder
(2019) In Translational Psychiatry 9(1).- Abstract
Telomere attrition is a hallmark of cellular aging and shorter telomeres have been reported in mood and anxiety disorders. Telomere shortening is counteracted by the enzyme telomerase and cellular protection is also provided by the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase (GPx). Here, telomerase, GPx, and telomeres were investigated in 46 social anxiety disorder (SAD) patients in a within-subject design with repeated measures before and after cognitive behavioral therapy. Treatment outcome was assessed by the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (self-report), administered three times before treatment to control for time and regression artifacts, and posttreatment. Venipunctures were performed twice before treatment, separated by 9 weeks,... (More)
Telomere attrition is a hallmark of cellular aging and shorter telomeres have been reported in mood and anxiety disorders. Telomere shortening is counteracted by the enzyme telomerase and cellular protection is also provided by the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase (GPx). Here, telomerase, GPx, and telomeres were investigated in 46 social anxiety disorder (SAD) patients in a within-subject design with repeated measures before and after cognitive behavioral therapy. Treatment outcome was assessed by the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (self-report), administered three times before treatment to control for time and regression artifacts, and posttreatment. Venipunctures were performed twice before treatment, separated by 9 weeks, and once posttreatment. Telomerase activity and telomere length were measured in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and GPx activity in plasma. All patients contributed with complete data. Results showed that social anxiety symptom severity was significantly reduced from pretreatment to posttreatment (Cohen’s d = 1.46). There were no significant alterations in telomeres or cellular protection markers before treatment onset. Telomere length and telomerase activity did not change significantly after treatment, but an increase in telomerase over treatment was associated with reduced social anxiety. Also, lower pretreatment telomerase activity predicted subsequent symptom improvement. GPx activity increased significantly during treatment, and increases were significantly associated with symptom improvement. The relationships between symptom improvement and putative protective enzymes remained significant also after controlling for body mass index, sex, duration of SAD, smoking, concurrent psychotropic medication, and the proportion of lymphocytes to monocytes. Thus, indices of cellular protection may be involved in the therapeutic mechanisms of psychological treatment for anxiety.
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- publishing date
- 2019
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- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Translational Psychiatry
- volume
- 9
- issue
- 1
- article number
- 340
- publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- external identifiers
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- pmid:31852887
- scopus:85076880962
- ISSN
- 2158-3188
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41398-019-0668-2
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
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- 8cb869eb-1b06-4b15-b0af-156a730f8039
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- 2020-01-08 14:03:08
- date last changed
- 2024-05-01 03:02:52
@article{8cb869eb-1b06-4b15-b0af-156a730f8039,
abstract = {{<p>Telomere attrition is a hallmark of cellular aging and shorter telomeres have been reported in mood and anxiety disorders. Telomere shortening is counteracted by the enzyme telomerase and cellular protection is also provided by the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase (GPx). Here, telomerase, GPx, and telomeres were investigated in 46 social anxiety disorder (SAD) patients in a within-subject design with repeated measures before and after cognitive behavioral therapy. Treatment outcome was assessed by the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (self-report), administered three times before treatment to control for time and regression artifacts, and posttreatment. Venipunctures were performed twice before treatment, separated by 9 weeks, and once posttreatment. Telomerase activity and telomere length were measured in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and GPx activity in plasma. All patients contributed with complete data. Results showed that social anxiety symptom severity was significantly reduced from pretreatment to posttreatment (Cohen’s d = 1.46). There were no significant alterations in telomeres or cellular protection markers before treatment onset. Telomere length and telomerase activity did not change significantly after treatment, but an increase in telomerase over treatment was associated with reduced social anxiety. Also, lower pretreatment telomerase activity predicted subsequent symptom improvement. GPx activity increased significantly during treatment, and increases were significantly associated with symptom improvement. The relationships between symptom improvement and putative protective enzymes remained significant also after controlling for body mass index, sex, duration of SAD, smoking, concurrent psychotropic medication, and the proportion of lymphocytes to monocytes. Thus, indices of cellular protection may be involved in the therapeutic mechanisms of psychological treatment for anxiety.</p>}},
author = {{Månsson, Kristoffer N.T. and Lindqvist, Daniel and Yang, Liu L. and Svanborg, Cecilia and Isung, Josef and Nilsonne, Gustav and Bergman-Nordgren, Lise and El Alaoui, Samir and Hedman-Lagerlöf, Erik and Kraepelien, Martin and Högström, Jens and Andersson, Gerhard and Boraxbekk, Carl Johan and Fischer, Håkan and Lavebratt, Catharina and Wolkowitz, Owen M. and Furmark, Tomas}},
issn = {{2158-3188}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
publisher = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
series = {{Translational Psychiatry}},
title = {{Improvement in indices of cellular protection after psychological treatment for social anxiety disorder}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41398-019-0668-2}},
doi = {{10.1038/s41398-019-0668-2}},
volume = {{9}},
year = {{2019}},
}