Adverse consequences of glucocorticoid medication: Psychological, cognitive, and behavioral effects

American Journal of Psychiatry

Volumn 171, Issue 10, 2014, Pages 1045-1051

  Judd, Lewis L ^a   Schettler, Pamela J ^a   Brown, E Sherwood ^a   Wolkowitz, Owen M ^a   Sternberg, Esther M ^a   Bender, Bruce G ^a   Bulloch, Karen ^a   Cidlowski, John A ^a   De Kloet, E Ronald ^a   Fardet, Laurence ^a   Joëls, Marian ^a   Leung, Donald Y M ^a   McEwen, Bruce S ^a   Roozendaal, Benno ^a   Van Rossum, Elisabeth F C ^a   Ahn, Junyoung ^a   Brown, David W ^a   Plitt, Aaron ^a   Singh, Gagandeep ^a  

^a SORBONNE UNIVERSITÉ   (France)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

BETAMETHASONE; BRAIN DERIVED NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR; CORTICOTROPIN; DEFLAZACORT; DEXAMETHASONE; FLUOXETINE; FLUVOXAMINE; GLUCOCORTICOID; GLUCOCORTICOID RECEPTOR; HALOPERIDOL; HYDROCORTISONE; LAMOTRIGINE; LITHIUM CARBONATE; LITHIUM SALT; MEMANTINE; METHYLPREDNISOLONE; MINERALOCORTICOID RECEPTOR; NEUROLEPTIC AGENT; OLANZAPINE; PHENYTOIN; PREDNISOLONE; PREDNISONE; PROPRANOLOL; SERTRALINE; TRIAMCINOLONE; VALPROIC ACID; VENLAFAXINE;

AGE; ANXIETY DISORDER; BEHAVIOR; BRAIN FUNCTION; COGNITION; CONFUSION; DELIRIUM; DEPRESSION; DISEASE SEVERITY; DISORIENTATION; DRUG DOSE REDUCTION; DRUG MEGADOSE; DRUG WITHDRAWAL; GENDER; HUMAN; HYPERACTIVITY; HYPOTHALAMUS HYPOPHYSIS ADRENAL SYSTEM; INCIDENCE; LONG TERM CARE; LOW DRUG DOSE; MANIA; MEMORY; MEMORY DISORDER; MOOD; NONHUMAN; PANIC; PREDICTION; PRESCRIPTION; PREVALENCE; PSYCHOSIS; RECURRENCE RISK; REVIEW; RISK ASSESSMENT; SUICIDE ATTEMPT; TREATMENT DURATION; TREATMENT OUTCOME; UNITED KINGDOM; AFFECT; CASE REPORT; CHEMICALLY INDUCED; COGNITION DISORDERS; DRUG EFFECTS; FEMALE; MENTAL DISORDERS; MIDDLE AGED; PRACTICE GUIDELINE; PSYCHOLOGY; RISK FACTOR; STATISTICS AND NUMERICAL DATA;

AFFECT; COGNITION DISORDERS; FEMALE; GLUCOCORTICOIDS; GREAT BRITAIN; HUMANS; INCIDENCE; MEMORY; MENTAL DISORDERS; MIDDLE AGED; PRACTICE GUIDELINES AS TOPIC; PSYCHOLOGY; RISK FACTORS;

EID: 84907486834     PISSN: 0002953X     EISSN: 15357228     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.13091264     Document Type: Review

References (79)

1. Hsiao CJ, Cherry DK, Beatty PC, Rechtsteiner EA: National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2007 Summary. National Health Statistics Reports, No 27. Hyattsville, Md, National Center for Health Statistics, 2010
2. Fardet L, Petersen I, Nazareth I: Prevalence of long-term oral glucocorticoid prescriptions in the UK over the past 20 years. Rheumatology (Oxford) 2011; 50:1982-1990
3. Bhangle SD, Kramer N, Rosenstein ED: Corticosteroid-induced neuropsychiatric disorders: review and contrast with neuropsychiatric lupus. Rheumatol Int 2013; 33:1923-1932
4. Kenna HA, Poon AW, de los Angeles CP, Koran LM: Psychiatric complications of treatment with corticosteroids: review with case report. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2011; 65:549-560
5. Fardet L, Flahault A, Kettaneh A, Tiev KP, Généreau T, Tolédano C, Lebbé C, Cabane J: Corticosteroid-induced clinical adverse events: frequency, risk factors, and patient's opinion. Br J Dermatol 2007; 157:142-148
6. Fardet L, Petersen I, Nazareth I: Suicidal behavior and severe neuropsychiatric disorders following glucocorticoid therapy in primary care. Am J Psychiatry 2012; 169:491-497
7. Naber D, Sand P, Heigl B: Psychopathological and neuropsychological effects of 8-days' corticosteroid treatment: a prospective study. Psychoneuroendocrinology 1996; 21:25-31
8. Brown ES, Suppes T, Khan DA, Carmody TJ 3rd: Mood changes during prednisone bursts in outpatients with asthma. J Clin Psychopharmacol 2002; 22:55-61
9. Wolkowitz OM, Rubinow D, Doran AR, Breier A, Berrettini WH, Kling MA, Pickar D: Prednisone effects on neurochemistry and behavior: preliminary findings. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1990; 47:963-968
10. Lieb K, Engelbrecht MA, Gut O, Fiebich BL, Bauer J, Janssen G, Schaefer M: Cognitive impairment in patients with chronic hepatitis treated with interferon alpha (IFNalpha): results from a prospective study. Eur Psychiatry 2006; 21:204-210
11. Gift AG, Wood RM, Cahill CA: Depression, somatization, and steroid use in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Int J Nurs Stud 1989; 26:281-286
12. Wolkowitz OM, Burke H, Epel ES, Reus VI: Glucocorticoids: mood, memory, and mechanisms. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2009; 1179:19-40
13. Wolkowitz OM, Lupien SJ, Bigler E, Levin RB, Canick J: The "steroid dementia syndrome": an unrecognized complication of glucocorticoid treatment. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2004; 1032:191-194
14. Oliveri RL, Sibilia G, Valentino P, Russo C, Romeo N, Quattrone A: Pulsed methylprednisolone induces a reversible impairment of memory in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Acta Neurol Scand 1998; 97:366-369
15. Varney NR, Alexander B, MacIndoe JH: Reversible steroid dementia in patients without steroid psychosis. Am J Psychiatry 1984; 141:369-372
16. Bender BG, Lerner JA, Kollasch E: Mood and memory changes in asthmatic children receiving corticosteroids. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 1988; 27:720-725
17. Coluccia D, Wolf OT, Kollias S, Roozendaal B, Forster A, de Quervain DJ: Glucocorticoid therapy-induced memory deficits: acute versus chronic effects. J Neurosci 2008; 28:3474-3478
18. Keenan PA, Jacobson MW, Soleymani RM, Mayes MD, Stress ME, Yaldoo DT: The effect on memory of chronic prednisone treatment in patients with systemic disease. Neurology 1996; 47:1396-1402
19. Brown ES, J Woolston D, Frol A, Bobadilla L, Khan DA, Hanczyc M, Rush AJ, Fleckenstein J, Babcock E, Cullum CM: Hippocampal volume, spectroscopy, cognition, and mood in patients receiving corticosteroid therapy. Biol Psychiatry 2004; 55:538-545
20. Frol AB, Vasquez A, Getahun Y, Pacheco M, Khan DA, Brown ES: A comparison of clinician-rated neuropsychological and selfrated cognitive assessments in patients with asthma and rheumatologic disorders. Allergy Asthma Proc 2013; 34:170-175
21. de Quervain DJ, Henke K, Aerni A, Treyer V, McGaugh JL, Berthold T, Nitsch RM, Buck A, Roozendaal B, Hock C: Glucocorticoid-induced impairment of declarative memory retrieval is associated with reduced blood flow in the medial temporal lobe. Eur J Neurosci 2003; 17:1296-1302
22. Wolkowitz OM, Reus VI, Weingartner H, Thompson K, Breier A, Doran A, Rubinow D, Pickar D: Cognitive effects of corticosteroids. Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147:1297-1303
23. Wolkowitz OM: Prospective controlled studies of the behavioral and biological effects of exogenous corticosteroids. Psychoneuroendocrinology 1994; 19:233-255
24. Schmidt LA, Fox NA, Goldberg MC, Smith CC, Schulkin J: Effects of acute prednisone administration on memory, attention, and emotion in healthy human adults. Psychoneuroendocrinology 1999; 24:461-483
25. Newcomer JW, Craft S, Hershey T, Askins K, Bardgett ME: Glucocorticoid-induced impairment in declarative memory performance in adult humans. J Neurosci 1994; 14:2047-2053
26. Newcomer JW, Selke G, Melson AK, Hershey T, Craft S, Richards K, Alderson AL: Decreased memory performance in healthy humans induced by stress-level cortisol treatment. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1999; 56:527-533
27. Young AH, Sahakian BJ, Robbins TW, Cowen PJ: The effects of chronic administration of hydrocortisone on cognitive function in normal male volunteers. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 1999; 145:260-266
28. Mercadante S, Villari P, Intravaia G: Withdrawal acute psychosis after corticosteroid discontinuation. J Pain Symptom Manage 2007; 34:118-119
29. Fardet L, Nazareth I, Whitaker HJ, Petersen I: Severe neuropsychiatric outcomes following discontinuation of long-term glucocorticoid therapy: a cohort study. J Clin Psychiatry 2013; 74:e281-e286
30. Warrington TP, Bostwick JM: Psychiatric adverse effects of corticosteroids. Mayo Clin Proc 2006; 81:1361-1367
31. The Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program: Acute adverse reactions to prednisone in relation to dosage. Clin Pharmacol Ther 1972; 13:694-698
32. Curtis JR, Westfall AO, Allison J, Bijlsma JW, Freeman A, George V, Kovac SH, Spettell CM, Saag KG: Population-based assessment of adverse events associated with long-term glucocorticoid use. Arthritis Rheum 2006; 55:420-426
33. Brown ES: Effects of glucocorticoids on mood, memory, and the hippocampus: treatment and preventive therapy. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2009; 1179:41-55
34. Joëls M: Corticosteroid effects in the brain: U-shape it. Trends Pharmacol Sci 2006; 27:244-250
35. Lupien SJ, McEwen BS: The acute effects of corticosteroids on cognition: integration of animal and human model studies. Brain Res Brain Res Rev 1997; 24:1-27
36. Rhen T, Cidlowski JA: Antiinflammatory action of glucocorticoids: new mechanisms for old drugs. N Engl J Med 2005; 353:1711-1723
37. McEwen BS: The ever-changing brain: cellular and molecular mechanisms for the effects of stressful experiences. Dev Neurobiol 2012; 72:878-890
38. Joëls M, Sarabdjitsingh RA, Karst H: Unraveling the time domains of corticosteroid hormone influences on brain activity: rapid, slow, and chronic modes. Pharmacol Rev 2012; 64:901-938
39. Popoli M, Yan Z, McEwen BS, Sanacora G: The stressed synapse: the impact of stress and glucocorticoids on glutamate transmission. Nat Rev Neurosci 2012; 13:22-37
40. Karst H, Berger S, Turiault M, Tronche F, Schütz G, Joëls M: Mineralocorticoid receptors are indispensable for nongenomic modulation of hippocampal glutamate transmission by corticosterone. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2005; 102:19204-19207
41. Meijer OC, de Lange ECM, Breimer DD, de Boer AG, Workel JO, de Kloet ER: Penetration of dexamethasone into brain glucocorticoid targets is enhanced in mdr1A P-glycoprotein knockout mice. Endocrinology 1998; 139:1789-1793
42. Karssen AM, Meijer OC, Berry A, Sanjuan Piñol R, de Kloet ER: Low doses of dexamethasone can produce a hypocorticosteroid state in the brain. Endocrinology 2005; 146:5587-5595
43. de Kloet ER, Joëls M, Holsboer F: Stress and the brain: from adaptation to disease. Nat Rev Neurosci 2005; 6:463-475
44. McEwen BS: Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators: central role of the brain. Dialogues Clin Neurosci 2006; 8:367-381
45. McEwen BS, Magarinos AM: Stress and hippocampal plasticity: implications for the pathophysiology of affective disorders. Hum Psychopharmacol 2001; 16(S1):S7-S19
46. Woolley CS, Gould E, McEwen BS: Exposure to excess glucocorticoids alters dendritic morphology of adult hippocampal pyramidal neurons. Brain Res 1990; 531:225-231
47. de Leon MJ, McRae T, Rusinek H, Convit A, De Santi S, Tarshish C, Golomb J, Volkow N, Daisley K, Orentreich N, McEwen B: Cortisol reduces hippocampal glucose metabolism in normal elderly, but not in Alzheimer's disease. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1997; 82:3251-3259
48. Grundy PL, Patel N, Harbuz MS, Lightman SL, Sharples PM: Glucocorticoids modulate BDNF mRNA expression in the rat hippocampus after traumatic brain injury. Neuroreport 2000; 11:3381-3384
49. Hansson AC, Cintra A, Belluardo N, Sommer W, Bhatnagar M, Bader M, Ganten D, Fuxe K: Gluco- and mineralocorticoid receptor-mediated regulation of neurotrophic factor gene expression in the dorsal hippocampus and the neocortex of the rat. Eur J Neurosci 2000; 12:2918-2934
50. Vellucci SV, Parrott RF, Mimmack ML: Down-regulation of BDNF mRNA, with no effect on trkB or glucocorticoid receptor m RNAs, in the porcine hippocampus after acute dexamethasone treatment. Res Vet Sci 2001; 70:157-162
51. Duman RS, Heninger GR, Nestler EJ: A molecular and cellular theory of depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1997; 54:597-606
52. Gould E, Tanapat P: Stress and hippocampal neurogenesis. Biol Psychiatry 1999; 46:1472-1479
53. Duman RS, Monteggia LM: A neurotrophic model for stress-related mood disorders. Biol Psychiatry 2006; 59:1116-1127
54. Weerda R, Muehlhan M, Wolf OT, Thiel CM: Effects of acute psychosocial stress on working memory related brain activity in men. Hum Brain Mapp 2010; 31:1418-1429
55. Oei NY, Everaerd WT, Elzinga BM, van Well S, Bermond B: Psychosocial stress impairs working memory at high loads: an association with cortisol levels and memory retrieval. Stress 2006; 9:133-141
56. Zobel AW, Schulze-Rauschenbach S, von Widdern OC, Metten M, Freymann N, Grasmäder K, Pfeiffer U, Schnell S, Wagner M, Maier W: Improvement of working but not declarative memory is correlated with HPA normalization during antidepressant treatment. J Psychiatr Res 2004; 38:377-383
57. McEwen BS, Sapolsky RM: Stress and cognitive function. Curr Opin Neurobiol 1995; 5:205-216
58. Eichenbaum H, Otto T, Cohen NJ: The hippocampus: what does it do? Behav Neural Biol 1992; 57:2-36
59. Lupien SJ, de Leon M, de Santi S, Convit A, Tarshish C, Nair NP, Thakur M, McEwen BS, Hauger RL, Meaney MJ: Cortisol levels during human aging predict hippocampal atrophy and memory deficits. Nat Neurosci 1998; 1:69-73
60. Aulakh R, Singh S: Strategies for minimizing corticosteroid toxicity: a review. Indian J Pediatr 2008; 75:1067-1073
61. Ganguli R, Singh A, Brar J, Carter C, Mintun M: Hydrocortisone induced regional cerebral activity changes in schizophrenia: a PET scan study. Schizophr Res 2002; 56:241-247
62. Brown ES, Woolston DJ, Frol AB: Amygdala volume in patients receiving chronic corticosteroid therapy. Biol Psychiatry 2008; 63:705-709
63. Brown ES, Chandler PA: Mood and cognitive changes during systemic corticosteroid therapy. Prim Care Companion J Clin Psychiatry 2001; 3:17-21
64. Zöllner EW, Lombard CJ, Galal U, Hough FS, Irusen EM, Weinberg E: Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression in asthmatic school children. Pediatrics 2012; 130:e1512-e1519
65. Hengge UR, Ruzicka T, Schwartz RA, Cork MJ: Adverse effects of topical glucocorticosteroids. J Am Acad Dermatol 2006; 54:1-15
66. Liu D, Ahmet A, Ward L, Krishnamoorthy P, Mandelcorn ED, Leigh R, Brown JP, Cohen A, Kim H: A practical guide to the monitoring and management of the complications of systemic corticosteroid therapy. Allergy Asthma Clin Immunol 2013; 9:30
67. Zukerman E, Ingelfinger JR: Coping With Prednisone (and Other Cortisone-Related Medicines): It May Work Miracles, But How Do You Handle the Side Effects? New York, St. Martin's Griffin, 2007
68. Brown ES, Chamberlain W, Dhanani N, Paranjpe P, Carmody TJ, Sargeant M: An open-label trial of olanzapine for corticosteroid-induced mood symptoms. J Affect Disord 2004; 83:277-281
69. Brown ES, Stuard G, Liggin JD, Hukovic N, Frol A, Dhanani N, Khan DA, Jeffress J, Larkin GL, McEwen BS, Rosenblatt R, Mageto Y, Hanczyc M, Cullum CM: Effect of phenytoin on mood and declarative memory during prescription corticosteroid therapy. Biol Psychiatry 2005; 57:543-548
70. Roxanas MG, Hunt GE: Rapid reversal of corticosteroid-induced mania with sodium valproate: a case series of 20 patients. Psychosomatics 2012; 53:575-581
71. Brown CK, Meeker G, Brown ES: Examination of a possible interaction between prednisone and newer antidepressants. Prim Care Community Psychiatry 2005; 10:143-147
72. Thase ME: Bipolar depression: diagnostic and treatment considerations. Dev Psychopathol 2006; 18:1213-1230
73. Falk WE, Mahnke MW, Poskanzer DC: Lithium prophylaxis of corticotropin-induced psychosis. JAMA 1979; 241:1011-1012
74. Brown ES, Wolfshohl J, Shad MU, Vazquez M, Osuji IJ: Attenuation of the effects of corticosteroids on declarative memory with lamotrigine. Neuropsychopharmacology 2008; 33:2376-2383
75. Desai S, Khanani S, Shad MU, Brown ES: Attenuation of amygdala atrophy with lamotrigine in patients receiving corticosteroid therapy. J Clin Psychopharmacol 2009; 29:284-287
76. Brown ES, Vazquez M, Nakamura A: Randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial of memantine for cognitive changes with corticosteroid therapy. Biol Psychiatry 2008; 64:727-729
77. de Quervain DJF, Aerni A, Roozendaal B: Preventive effect of beta-adrenoceptor blockade on glucocorticoid-induced memory retrieval deficits. Am J Psychiatry 2007; 164:967-969
78. Carta MG, Moro MF, Lorefice L, Trincas G, Cocco E, Giudice ED, Fenu G, Colom F, Marrosu MG: The risk of bipolar disorders in multiple sclerosis. J Affect Disord 2014; 155:255-260
79. Thielscher C, Thielscher S, Kostev K: The risk of developing depression when suffering from neurological diseases. Ger Med Sci 2013; 11:Doc02