Pituitary volume in teenagers with first-presentation borderline personality disorder

Garner, Belinda; Chanen, Andrew M.; Phillips, Lisa; Velakoulis, Dennis; Wood, Stephen J.; Jackson, Henry J.; Pantelis, Christos; McGorry, Patrick D.

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2007.05.001

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 156, Issue 3 , Pages 257-261, 15 December 2007

Pituitary volume in teenagers with first-presentation borderline personality disorder

Belinda Garner
- ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Andrew M. Chanen
- ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- ORYGEN Youth Health, Northwestern Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia
- Corresponding author. ORYGEN Research Centre, Locked Bag 10, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia. Tel.: +61 3 9342 2800; fax: +61 3 9387 3003.
Lisa Phillips
- School of Behavioural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Dennis Velakoulis
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, and Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Australia
Stephen J. Wood
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, and Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Australia
- Brain Research Institute, Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre, Melbourne, Australia
Henry J. Jackson
- ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- School of Behavioural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Christos Pantelis
- Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, and Melbourne Health, Melbourne, Australia
Patrick D. McGorry
- ORYGEN Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
- ORYGEN Youth Health, Northwestern Mental Health, Melbourne, Australia

Received 16 January 2007; received in revised form 30 March 2007; accepted 2 May 2007.

Abstract

This study used magnetic resonance imaging to examine pituitary gland volume (PGV) in teenage patients with a first presentation of borderline personality disorder (BPD). No difference in PGV was observed between healthy controls (n=20) and the total BPD cohort (n=20). However, within the BPD cohort, those exposed to childhood trauma (n=9) tended to have smaller pituitaries (−18%) than those with no history of childhood trauma (n=10). These preliminary findings suggest that exposure to childhood trauma, rather than BPD, per se, might be associated with reduced PGV, possibly reflecting hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis dysfunction.