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Associations between Central Nervous System Serotonin, Fasting Glucose, and Hostility in African American Females

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background

Previous research has shown an association between hostility and fasting glucose in African American women. Central nervous system serotonin activity is implicated both in metabolic processes and in hostility related traits.

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to determine whether central nervous system serotonin influences the association between hostility and fasting glucose in African American women.

Methods

The study consisted of 119 healthy volunteers (36 African American women, 27 White women, 21 White males, and 35 African American males, mean age 34 ± 8.5 years). Serotonin related compounds were measured in cerebrospinal fluid. Hostility was measured by the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale.

Results

Hostility was associated with fasting glucose and central nervous system serotonin related compounds in African American women only. Controlling for the serotonin related compounds significantly reduced the association of hostility to glucose.

Conclusions

The positive correlation between hostility and fasting glucose in African American women can partly be explained by central nervous system serotonin function.

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Acknowledgments

Supported by a grant (P01-HL036587) from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Authors’ Conflict of Interest and Adherence to Ethical Standards

Dr. Redford B. Williams reports holding a US patent on the 5-HTTLPR L allele for use as a marker of increased cardiovascular risk in stressed persons and is a founder and major stockholder of Williams LifeSkills, Inc. Dr. Wayne Matson is currently Chief Scientist at Counterpoint Health Solutions and is involved in developing patents in disease risk factors based on metabolomics. Dr Kaddurah-Daouk is an equity holder in Metabolon, a biotechnology company in the metabolomics domain, and also an inventor on patents in the metabolomics field. She has received funding or consultancy fees for BMS, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Lunbeck. Authors Stephen H. Boyle, Anastasia Georgiades, Beverly H. Brummett, John C. Barefoot, Ilene C. Siegler, Cynthia M. Kuhn, Katherine Grichnik, Mark Stafford-Smith, and Richard S. Surwit declare that they have no conflicts of interest. All procedures, including the informed consent process, were conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, BOX 3366, Durham, NC, 27710, USA

    Stephen H. Boyle PhD, Anastasia Georgiades PhD, Beverly H. Brummett PhD, John C. Barefoot PhD, Ilene C. Siegler PhD, MPH, Redford B. Williams MD, Rima Kaddurah-Daouk PhD & Richard S. Surwit PhD

  2. Counterpoint Health Solutions, INC., Bedford, MA, USA

    Wayne R. Matson PhD

  3. Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA

    Cynthia M. Kuhn PhD

  4. Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA

    Katherine Grichnik MD & Mark Stafford-Smith MD

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  1. Stephen H. Boyle PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephen H. Boyle PhD.

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Boyle, S.H., Georgiades, A., Brummett, B.H. et al. Associations between Central Nervous System Serotonin, Fasting Glucose, and Hostility in African American Females. ann. behav. med. 49, 49–57 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-014-9626-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-014-9626-7

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