Hypercortisolism Associated With Social Subordinance or Social Isolation Among Wild Baboons

doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1997.01830240097014

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Vol. 54 No. 12, December 1997

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Hypercortisolism Associated With Social Subordinance or Social Isolation Among Wild Baboons

Robert M. Sapolsky, PhD; Susan C. Alberts, PhD; Jeanne Altmann, PhD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1997;54(12):1137-1143.

Abstract

Background
The phenomena of basal hypercortisolism and of dexamethasoneresistance have long intrigued biological psychiatrists, andmuch is still unknown as to the causes and consequences of suchadrenocortical hyperactivity in various neuropsychiatric disorders.We have analyzed basal cortisol concentrations and adrenocorticalresponsiveness to dexamethasone in a population of wild baboonsliving in a national park in Kenya. We tested whether socialsubordinance in a primate is associated with dexamethasone resistance.Furthermore, we examined whether individual differences in adrenocorticalmeasurements were predicted by the extent of social affiliationin these animals.

Methods
Seventy yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) were anesthetizedand injected with 5 mg of dexamethasone; the cortisol responsewas monitored for 6 hours. The animals were of both sexes ina range of ages and had known ranks in the dominance hierarchieswithin their troops. Extensive behavioral data were availablefor a subset of 12 adult males who were anesthetized under circumstancesthat also allowed for the determination of basal cortisol concentrations.

Results
The socially subordinate baboons were less responsive to dexamethasonethan were the dominant ones; as one manifestation of this, postdexamethasonecortisol values were more than 3 times higher in the dozen lowest-rankinganimals compared with the dozen highest. In addition, sociallyisolated males had elevated basal cortisol concentrations andshowed a trend toward relative dexamethasone resistance.

Conclusions
Our findings indicate that social status and degree of socialaffilitation can influence adrenocortical profiles; specifically,social subordinance or social isolation were associated in ourstudy with hypercortisolism or feedback resistance.

Author Affiliations

From the Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif (Dr Sapolsky); the Institute of Primate Research, Nairobi, Kenya (Drs Sapolsky, Alberts, and Altmann); the Department of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass (Dr Alberts); the Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill (Dr Altmann); and the Department of Conservation Biology, Chicago Zoological Society, Brookfield, Ill (Dr Altmann).

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