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Study Suggests Women's Stress Disorders May Be Biological
Study Suggests Women's Stress Disorders May Be Biological
A study conducted on animals by behavioral neuroscientist, Rita J. Valentino, Ph. D. and fellow, Debra A.
Bangasser, Ph. D., at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, shows that women may be more susceptible to
psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression simply because they are women. The study ultimately
presents the link between female neurotransmitter receptors and the possible biological cause for the higher
incidence of these disorders in women than in men.
The study, which involved the use of male and female rats, shows that the corticotropinreleasing factor (CRFs)
receptors of female rats are signaled, directed and reacted to differently than in the male rats. Various stress tests
were used to test the rats’ responses to stressful situations. Researchers found that the female rats displayed an
increased number of neuronhugging CRF receptors, which lessened their ability to deal with the release of the
stress hormones, while the male rats responded with internalization, which is a way of coping.
Dr. Valentino stated that because the study was conducted on male and female rats, more studies are needed to
confirm the findings. Additionally, she said that because studies such as this one were historically performed on
male rats, these findings were possibly overlooked because females were never before studied until more recently.
In the past, studies conducted to make medications using CRF antagonists, which have been shown to reduce
anxiety and depression, have been abandoned due to the harmful side effects observed. One of these studies, the
only study ever performed on humans, showed that high doses of CRF could increase liver enzymes.
The study by Valentino ultimately showed that the female rats did not make enough of a CRF binding protein to
adapt to the imparted stress levels as the male rats did. These findings led researchers to conclude that the sex
difference could be an underlying cause of why so many more women are afflicted by psychological disorders
than men.
For years, it has been known through statistical information that women are more susceptible than men to
psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety disorders and post traumatic stress disorder, among others.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one out of every three women are afflicted with some kind
of mental health issue with depression and anxiety topping the chart. WHO also states that historically, while
researchers never knew the real reason for the disorders, these complaints are related to purely environmental
factors such as life stressors, negative life events such as violence, poverty, low social status and more.
This study was founded by the National Institutes of Health and the results were published in the June 15, 2010
edition of Molecular Biology.
Sources:
WHO, “Gender and Women’s Health”
Apoorva Mandavilli, “Mood Swings,” BioChecistry.com
D A Bangasser, et. al., “Sex differences in corticotropinreleasing factor receptor signaling and trafficking:
potential role in female vulnerability to stressrelated psychopathology,”Molecular Psychiatry