Administration of human leptin differentially affects parameters of cortisol secretion in socially housed female rhesus monkeys.

Chronic exposure to psychosocial stress may lead to a dysregulation of the limbic-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis that results in a number of adverse health outcomes. The fat-derived hormone leptin has been indicated as a potential key component to maintaining homeostasis by enhancing glucocorticoid negative feedback. Using an established model of nonhuman primate social stress, notably social subordination, this study examined the effects of continuous leptin administration on cortisol secretion in female rhesus monkeys.

Polymorphisms in the serotonin reuptake transporter gene modify the consequences of social status on metabolic health in female rhesus monkeys.

Individuals vary substantially in their vulnerability to physical and psychosocial stressors. The causes of such variation in susceptibility to stress are poorly understood, but are thought to relate in part to genetic factors. The present study evaluated the extent to which polymorphisms in the gene encoding the serotonin reuptake transporter (5HTTLPR or SERT) modulated physiologic responses to the imposition of psychosocial stress (social reorganization and subordinate social status) in female rhesus monkeys.