Anxiety sensitivity, the menstrual cycle, and panic disorder: A putative neuroendocrine and psychological interaction

Clinical Psychology Review

Volumn 31, Issue 7, 2011, Pages 1183-1191

  Nillni, Yael I ^a   Toufexis, Donna J ^a   Rohan, Kelly J ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT   (United States)

Author keywords

Anxiety sensitivity; Neurosteroids; Panic disorder; Premenstrual phase

Indexed keywords

3ALPHA HYDROXY 5ALPHA PREGNAN 20 ONE; PROGESTERONE;

ANXIETY; BEHAVIOR; DISEASE ASSOCIATION; HORMONAL REGULATION; HUMAN; MENSTRUAL CYCLE; NEUROENDOCRINE SYSTEM; NONHUMAN; PANIC; PREMENSTRUAL DYSPHORIC DISORDER; PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME; PREVALENCE; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; REVIEW; SEX DIFFERENCE; STRESS;

ANXIETY; BRAIN; FEMALE; HUMANS; MENSTRUAL CYCLE; MODELS, PSYCHOLOGICAL; NEUROSECRETORY SYSTEMS; NEUROTRANSMITTER AGENTS; PANIC DISORDER; PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME;

EID: 80051614667     PISSN: 02727358     EISSN: 18737811     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2011.07.006     Document Type: Review

References (99)

1. Angst J., Sellaro R., Stolar M., Merikangas K.R., Endicott J. The epidemiology of premenstrual psychological symptoms. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 2001, 104:110-116.
2. APA The diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-IV-TR 2000, American Psychiatric Association, Washington, D.C. 4th ed.
3. Asso D. The real menstrual cycle 1983, John Wiley & Sons, New York.
4. Backstrom T., Andreen L., Birzniece V., Bjorn I., Johansson I.M., Nordenstam-Haghjo M., et al. The role of hormones and hormonal treatments in premenstrual syndrom. CNS Drugs 2003, 5:325-342.
5. Backstrom T., Sanders D., Leask R., Davidson D., Warner P., Bancroft J. Mood, sexuality, hormones and the menstrual cycle. II. Hormone levels and their relationship to the premenstrual syndrome. Psychosomatic Medicine 1983, 45:503-507.
6. Bailey J.W., Cohen L.S. Prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders in women who seek treatment for premenstrual syndrome. Journal of Women's Health & Gender-Based Medicine 1999, 8:1181-1184.
7. Barnard K., Frayne S.M., Skinner K.M., Sullivan L.M. Health status among women with menstrual symptoms. Journal of Women's Health 2003, 12:911-919.
8. Basoglu C., Cetin M., Semiz U.B., Agargun M.Y., Ebrinc S. Premenstrual exacerbation and suicidal behavior in patients with Panic Disorder. Comprehensive Psychiatry 2000, 41:103-105.
9. Bernstein A., Zvolensky M.J., Kotov R., Arrindell W.A., Taylor S., Sandin B., et al. Taxonicity of anxiety sensitivity: A multi-national analysis. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 2006, 20:1-22.
10. Bernstein A., Zvolensky M.J., Norton P.J., Schmidt N.B., Taylor S., Forsyth J.P., et al. Taxometric and factor analytic models of anxiety sensitivity: integrating approaches to latent structural research. Psychological Assessment 2007, 19:74-87.
11. Bloch M., Schmidt P.J., Rubinow D.R. Premenstrual syndrome: Evidence for symptom stability across cycles. The American Journal of Psychiatry 1997, 154:1741-1746.
12. Borenstein J.E., Dean B.B., Leifke E., Korner P., Yonkers K.A. Differences in symptom scores and health outcomes in premenstrual syndrome. Journal of Women's Health 2007, 16:1139-1144.
13. Brambilla F., Biggio G., Pisu M.G., Bellodi L., Perna G., Bogdanovich-Djukic V., et al. Neurosteroid secretion in panic disorder. Psychiatry Research 2003, 118:107-116.
14. Breier A., Charney D.S., Heninger G.R. Agoraphobia with panic attacks. Archives of General Psychiatry 1986, 43:1029-1036.
15. Case A.M., Reid R.L. Effects of the menstrual cycle on medical disorders. Archives of Internal Medicine 1998, 158:1405-1412.
16. Chawla A., Swindle R., Long S., Kennedy S., Sternfeld B. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder is there an economic burden of illness. Medical Care 2002, 40:1101-1112.
17. Chrisler J.C., Caplan P. The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde: How PMS became a cultural phenomenon and a psychiatric disorder. Annual Review of Sex Research 2002, 13:274-306.
18. Cook B.L., Noyes R., Garvey M.J., Beach V., Sobotka J., Chaudhry D. Anxiety and the menstrual cycle in panic disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders 1990, 19:221-226.
19. Craske M.G., Barlow D.H. Panic disorder and agoraphobia. Clinical handbook of psychological disorders: A step-by-step treatment manual 2008, 1-64. The Guilford Press, New York. 4th ed. D.H. Barlow (Ed.).
20. Donnell C.D., McNally R.J. Anxiety sensitivity and history of panic as predictors of response to hyperventilation. Behaviour Research and Therapy 1989, 27:325-332.
21. Facchinetti F., Romano G., Fava M., Genazzi A.R. Lactate infusion predicts panic attacks in patients with premenstrual syndrome. Psychosomatic Medicine 1992, 54:288-296.
22. Fishman S.M., Carr D.B., Beckett A., Rosenbaum J.F. Hypercapneic ventilatory response in patients with panic disorder before and after alprazolamm treatment and in pre- and postmenstrual women. Journal of Psychiatric Research 1994, 28:165-170.
23. Follesa P., Serra M., Cagetti E., Pisu M.G., Porta S., Floris S., et al. Allopregnanolone synthesis in cerebellar granule cells: Roles in regulation of GABAA receptor expression and function during progesterone treatment and withdrawal. Molecular Pharmacology 2000, 57:1262-1270.
24. Foot M., Koszycki D. Gender differences in anxiety-related traits in patients with panic disorder. Depression and Anxiety 2004, 20:123-130.
25. Freeman E.W. Premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder: Definitions and diagnosis. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2003, 28:25-37.
26. Frye C.A., Bayon L.E. Cyclic withdrawal from endogenous and exogenous progesterone increases kainic acid and perforant pathway induced seizures. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior 1999, 62:315-321.
27. Frye C.A., Walf A.A. Changes in progesterone metabolites in the hippocampus can modulate open field and forced swim test behavior of proestrous rats. Hormones and Behavior 2002, 41:306-315.
28. Frye C.A., Walf A.A. Estrogen and/or progesterone administered systemically or to the amygdala can have anxiety-, fear-, and pain-reducing effects in ovariectomized rats. Behavioral Neuroscience 2004, 118:306-313.
29. Gladis M.M., Walsh B.T. Premenstrual exacerbation of binge eating in bulimia. The American Journal of Psychiatry 1987, 144:1592-1595.
30. Gonda X., Telek T., Juhasz G., Lazary J., Vargha A., Bagdy G. Patterns of mood changes throughout the reproductive cycle in healthy women without premenstrual dysphoric disorders. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry 2008, 32:1782-1788.
31. Gulinello M., Gong Q.H., Li X., Smith S.S. Short-term exposure to a neuroactive steroid inceases in α 4 GABAA receptor subunit levels in association with increased anxiety. Brain Research 2001, 910:55-66.
32. Gulinello M., Orman R., Smith S.S. Sex differences in anxiety, sensorimotor gating and expression of the alpha-4 subunit of the GABA-A receptor in the amygdala after progesterone withdrawal. European Journal of Neuroscience 2003, 17:1-8.
33. Halbreich U., Borenstein J., Pearlstein T., Kahn L.S. The prevalence, impairment, impact, and burden of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMS/PMDD). Psychoneuroendocrinology 2003, 28:1-23.
34. Halbreich U., Endicott J. Relationship of dysphoric premenstrual changes to depressive disorders. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 1985, 71:331-338.
35. Halbreich U., Endicott J., Goldstein S., Nee J. Premenstrual changes and changes in gonadal hormones. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 1986, 74:576-586.
36. Hardie E.A. Prevalence and predictors of cyclic and noncyclic affective change. Psychology of Women Quarterly 1997, 21:299-314.
37. Harrison W.M., Endicott J., Nee J., Glick H., Rabkin J.G. Characteristics of women seeking treatment for premenstrual syndrome. Psychosomatics 1989, 30:405-411.
38. Harrison W.M., Sandberg D., Gorman J.M., Fyer M., Nee J., Uy J., et al. Provocation of panic with carbon dioxide inhalation in patients with premenstrual dysphoria. Psychiatry Research 1989, 27:183-192.
39. Kask K., Gulinello M., Backstrom T., Geyer M.A., Sundstrom-Poromaa I. Patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder have increased startle response across both cycle phases and lower levels of prepulse inhibition during the late luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Neuropsychopharmacology 2008, 33:2283-2290.
40. Kaspi S.P., Otto M.W., Pollack M.H., Eppinger S., Rosenbaum J.F. Premenstrual exacerbation of symptoms in women with panic disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 1994, 8:131-138.
41. Kelly M.M., Forsyth J.P., Karekla M. Sex differences in response to a panicogenic challenge procedure: An experimental evaluation of panic vulnerability in a non-clinical sample. Behaviour Research and Therapy 2006, 44:1421-1430.
42. Kent J.M., Papp L.A., Martinex J.M., Browne S.T., Coplan J.D., Klein D.F., et al. Specificity of panic response to CO2 inhalation in panic disorder: A comparison with major depresion and premenstrual dysphoric disorder. The American Journal of Psychiatry 2001, 158:58-67.
43. Kim D.R., Gyulai L., Freeman E.W., Morrison M.F., Baldassano C., Dube B. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder and psychiatric co-morbidity. Archives of Women's Mental Health 2004, 7:37-47.
44. Klebanov P.K., Jemmot J.B. Effects of expectations and bodily sensations on self-reports of premenstrual symptoms. Psychology of Women Quarterly 1992, 16:289-310.
45. Kornstein S.G., Harvey A.T., Rush A.J., Wisniewski S.R., Trivedi M.H., Svikis D.S., et al. Self-reported premenstrual exacerbation of depressive symptoms in patients seeking treatment for major depression. Psychological Medicine 2008, 35:683-692.
46. Labad J., Menchon J.M., Alonso P., Segalas C., Jimenez S., Vallejo J. Female reproductive cycle and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 2005, 66:428-435.
47. Lane T., Francis A. Premenstrual symptomatology, locus of control, anxiety and depression in women with normal menstrual cycles. Archives of Women's Mental Health 2003, 6:127-138.
48. Li W., Zinbarg R.E. Anxiety sensitivity and panic attacks: A 1-year longitudinal study. Behavior Modification 2007, 31:145-161.
49. Logue C.M., Moos R.H. Perimenstrual symptoms: Prevalence and risk factors. Psychosomatic Medicine 1986, 48:388-414.
50. Maller R.G., Reiss S. Anxiety sensitivity in 1984 and panic attacks in 1987. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 1992, 6:241-247.
51. McFarlane J.M., Williams T.M. Placing premenstrual syndrome in perspective. Psychology of Women Quarterly 1994, 18:339-373.
52. McLean C.P., Anderson E.R. Brave men and timid women? A review of the gender differences in fear and anxiety. Clinical Psychology Review 2009, 29:496-505.
53. McNally R.J. Psychological approaches to panic disorder: A review. Psychological Bulletin 1990, 108:403-419.
54. McNally R.J. Anxiety sensitivity and panic disorder. Biological Psychiatry 2002, 52:938-946.
55. McNally R.J., Lorenz M. Anxiety sensitivity in agoraphobics. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry 1987, 18:3-11.
56. Merikangas K.R., Foeldenyi M., Angst J. The Zurich study. XIX. Patterns of menstrual disturbances in the community: Results of the Zurich cohort study. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 1993, 243:23-32.
57. Monteleone P., Luisi S., Tonetti A., Bernardi F., Genazzani A.D., Luisi M., et al. Allopregnanolone concentrations and premenstrual syndrome. European Journal of Endocrinology 2000, 142:269-273.
58. Nyberg S., Wahlstrom G., Backstrom T., Poromaa I.S. Altered sensitivity to alcohol in the late luteal phase among patients with premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2004, 29:767-777.
59. Olatunji B.O., Wolitzky-Taylor K.B. Anxiety sensitivity and the anxiety disorders: A meta-analytic review and synthesis. Psychological Bulletin 2009, 6:974-999.
60. Pearlstein T.B., Frank E., Tovar A.R., Thoft J.S., Jacobs E., Mieczkowski T.A. Prevalence of axis I and axis II disorders in women with late phase dysphoric disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders 1990, 20:129-134.
61. Pearlstein T., Stone A.B. Premenstrual syndrome. Psychiatric Clinics of North America 1998, 21:577-590.
62. Pearlstein T., Yonkers K.A., Fayyad R., Gillespie J.A. Pretreatment pattern of symptom expression in premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders 2005, 85:275-282.
63. Perkonigg A., Yonkers K.A., Pfister H., Lieb R., Wittchen H. Risk factors for premenstrual dysphoric disorder in a community sample of young women: The role of traumatic events and posttraumatic stress disorder. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 2004, 65:1314-1322.
64. Perna G., Brambilla F., Aranio C., Bellodi L. Menstrual cycle-related sensitivity to 35% CO2 in panic patients. Biological Psychiatry 1995, 37:528-532.
65. Redei E., Freeman E.W. Daily plasma estradiol and progesterone levels over the menstrual cycle and their relation to premenstrual symptoms. Psychoneuroendocrinology 1995, 20:259-267.
66. Reiss S., McNally R.J. The expectancy model of fear. Theoretical issues in behavior therapy 1985, 107-122. Academic Press, New York. S. Reiss, R.R. Bootzin (Eds.).
67. Reiss S., Peterson R.A., Gursky D.M., McNally R.J. Anxiety sensitivity, anxiety frequency and the prediction of fearfulness. Behaviour Research and Therapy 1986, 24:1-8.
68. Rhodes M.E., Frye C.A. Inhibiting progesterone metabolism in the hippocampus of rats in behavioral estrus decreases anxiolytic behaviors and enhances exploratory and antinociceptive behaviors. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience 2001, 1:287-296.
69. Robinson R.L., Swindle R.W. Premenstrual symptom severity: Impact on social functioning and treatment-seeking behaviors. Journal of Women's Health & Gender-Based Medicine 2000, 9:757-768.
70. Rubinow D.R., Hoban M.C., Grover G.N., Galloway D.S., Roy-Byrne P., Andersen R., et al. Changes in plasma hormones across the menstrual cycle in patients with menstrually related mood disorder and in control subjects. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 1988, 158:5-11.
71. Sandberg D., Endicott J., Harrison W., Nee J., Gorman J. Sodium lactate infusion in late luteal phase dysphoric disorder. Psychiatry Research 1993, 46:79-88.
72. Schmidt N.B., Koselka M. Gender differences in patients with panic disorder: Evaluating cognitive mediation of phobic avoidance. Cognitive Therapy and Research 2000, 24:533-550.
73. Schmidt N.B., Nieman L.K., Grover G.N., Muller K.L., Merriam G.R., Rubinow D.R. Lack of effect of induced menses on symptoms in women with premenstrual syndrome. The New England Journal of Medicine 1991, 324:1174-1179.
74. Schmidt N.B., Zvolensky M.J. Anxiety sensitivity and CO2 challenge reactivity as unique and interactive prospective predictors of anxiety pathology. Depression and Anxiety 2007, 24:527-536.
75. Schmidt N.B., Zvolensky M.J., Maner J.K. Anxiety sensitivity: Prospective prediction of panic attacks and Axis I pathology. Journal of Psychiatry Research 2006, 40:691-699.
76. Shen H., Gong Q.H., Yuan M., Smith S.S. Short-term steroid treatment Increases delta GABA-A receptor subunit expression in rat CA1 hippocampus: Pharmacological and behavioral effects. Neuropharmacology 2005, 49:573-586.
77. Sigmon S.T., Dorhofer D.M., Rohan K.J., Hotovy L.A., Boulard N.E., Fink C.M. Psychophysiological, somatic, and affective changes across the menstrual cycle in women with panic disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 2000, 68:425-431.
78. Sigmon S.T., Fink C.M., Rohan K.J., Hotovy L.A. Anxiety sensitivity and menstrual cycle reactivity: Psychophysiological and self-report differences. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 1996, 10:393-410.
79. Smith S.S., Ruderman Y., Frye C., Homanics G., Yuan M. Steroid withdrawal in the mouse results in axiogenic effects of 3α5α-THP: A possible model of premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Psychopharmacology 2006, 186:323-333.
80. Smith S.S., Shen H., Gong Q.H., Zhou X. Neurosteroid regulation of GABAA receptors: Focus on the α4 and α subunits. Pharmacology & Therapeutics 2007, 116:58-76.
81. Spitzer R.L., Williams J.B., Kroenke K., Hornyak R., McMurray J. Validity and utility of the PRIME-MD patient health questionnaire in assessment of 3000 obstetric-gynecologic patients: The PRIME-MD Patient Health Questionnaire Obstetrics-Gynecology Study. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2000, 183:759-769.
82. Staley K.J., Proctor W.R. Modulation of mammalian dendritic GABA (A) receptor function by the kinetics of CI- and HCO3-transport. The Journal of Physiology 1999, 519:693-712.
83. Stein M.B., Schmidt P.J., Rubinow D.R., Uhde T.W. Panic disorder and the menstrual cycle: Panic disorder patients, healthy subjects, and patients with premenstrual syndrome. The American Journal of Psychiatry 1989, 146:1299-1303.
84. Steiner M. Premenstrual syndromes. Annual Review of Medicine 1997, 48:447-455.
85. Stell B.M., Brickley S.G., Yang C.Y., Farrant M., Mody I. Neuroactive steroids reduce neuronal excitability by selectively enhancing tonic inhibition mediated by δ subunit-containing GABAA receptors. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2003, 100:14439-14444.
86. Stewart S.H., Taylor R., Baker J.M. Gender difference in dimensions of anxiety sensitivity. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 1997, 11:179-200.
87. Strine T.W., Chapman D.P., Ahluwalia I.B. Menstrual-related problems and psychological distress among women in the United States. Journal of Women's Health 2005, 14:316-323.
88. Strohle A., Romeo E., di Michele F., Pasini A., Hermann B., Gajewsky G., et al. Induced panic attacks shift γ-Aminobutyric acid type A receptor modulatory neuroactive steroid composition in patients with panic disorder. Preliminary results. Archives of General Psychiatry 2003, 60:161-168.
89. Targum S.D., Caputo K.P., Ball S.K. Menstrual cycle phase and psychiatric admissions. Journal of Affective Disorders 1991, 22:49-53.
90. Taylor S., Cox B.J. An expanded anxiety sensitivity index: Evidence for a hierarchic structure in a clinical sample. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 1998, 12:463-483.
91. Taylor S., Zvolensky M.J., Cox B.J., Deacon B., Heimberg R.G., Ledley D.R., et al. Robust dimensions of anxiety sensitivity: Development and initial validation of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3. Psychological Assessment 2007, 19:176-188.
92. Van Veen F.J., Jonker B.W., Van Vliet I.M., Zitman F.G. The effects of female reproductive hormones in generalized social anxiety disorder. International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine 2009, 39:283-295.
93. Vickers K., McNally R.J. Is premenstrual dysphoria a variant of panic disorder? A review. Clinical Psychology Review 2004, 24:933-956.
94. Walf A.M., Sumida K., Frye C.A. Inhibiting 5α-reductase in the amygdala attenuates antianxiety and antidepressant behavior of naturally receptive and hormone-primed ovariectomized rats. Psychopharmacology 2006, 186:302-311.
95. Wang M., Seippel L., Purdy R.H., Backstrom T. Relationship between symptom severity and steroid variation in women with premenstrual syndrome: Study on serum pregnenolone, pregnenolone sulfate, 5α-pregnane-3,20-dion and 3α-hydroxy-5α-pregnan-20-one. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 1996, 81:1076-1082.
96. Wittchen H., Becker E., Lieb R., Krause P. Prevalence, incidence and stability of premenstrual dysphoric disorder in the community. Psychological Medicine 2002, 32:119-132.
97. Woods N.F., Lentz M.J., Mitchell E.S., Heitkemper M., Shaver J., Henker R. Perceived stress, physiologic stress arousal, and premenstrual symptoms: Group differences and intra-individual patterns. Research in Nursing & Health 1998, 21:511-523.
98. Yen S.S.C. The human menstrual cycle: Neuroendocrine regulation. Reproductive endocrinology: Physiology, pathophysiology, and clinical management 1999, 191-217. W.B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, PA. S.S.C. Yen, R.B. Jaffe, R.L. Barbieri (Eds.).
99. Zvolensky M.J., Kotov R., Antipova A.V., Schmidt N.B. Diathesis stress model for panic-related distress: A test in a Russian epidemiological sample. Behaviour Research and Therapy 2005, 43:521-532.