•We assessed the association between hair cortisol and diurnal basal cortisol level.•Hair cortisol was moderately correlated with the integrated 30-day salivary cortisol.•Intra-individual hair ...cortisol stability was maintained for at least 4 months.•Mean salivary cortisol at bedtime was significantly correlated with hair cortisol.•Hair cortisol may reflect basal cortisol levels substantially over longer periods.
This study aimed to validate the association between hair cortisol and 30-day integrated salivary cortisol levels. Additionally, the intra-individual stability of the hair cortisol and the association between hair cortisol and salivary cortisol in several time domains were systematically explored. Twenty-four adults (15 men and 9 women, mean age: 22.7 ± 2.8 years) were asked to collect three saliva samples per day for 30 days, immediately after awakening (time 1), 30 min after awakening (time 2), and at bedtime (time 3). The hair sample was taken from the posterior vertex as close as possible to the scalp at the end of the 30-day study period. The area under the curve based on times 1 and 3 showed that cortisol levels in the 1 cm hair segment closest to the scalp were moderately correlated with the 30-day salivary cortisol levels (r = 0.41, p = 0.047). However, this correlation was not observed for the cortisol awakening response, diurnal slope, or other metrics in different time domains. The mean salivary cortisol at time 3 was significantly correlated with hair cortisol (r = 0.42, p = 0.041). Intra-individual stability of the hair cortisol was maintained for at least 4 months. Hair cortisol may reflect basal cortisol levels more substantially over longer periods (longer than 1 month and for at least 4 month), thus reflecting longitudinal cortisol production, rather than the day-to-day temporal cortisol response. Salivary cortisol is an ideal metric for short-term or day-to-day stress response. Researchers should select suitable metrics, such as hair cortisol for basal level (or trait) or salivary cortisol for response (or state), depending on the study objective.
Background
Social evaluative threat activates the HPA-axis system, namely cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) responses. Additionally, cognitive and behavioral models in social anxiety, which ...is aroused anxiety symptoms in social situations, indicate that negative cognitions have a role in the maintenance of symptoms. Thus, the present study examined the relationship between HPA-axis activity and cognitive features in social situations.
Method
We conducted the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) with 44 male participants and assessed HPA-axis responses, fear of negative evaluation, the estimated social cost, and self-perceptions of their speech performance, which are core negative cognitions in social situations.
Results
Results revealed that the cortisol-DHEA ratio significantly correlated with self-perceptions of participants’ speech performance (
r
= .30,
p
= .044) and the discrepancy between self-ratings and others’ ratings of the speech (
r
= .44,
p
= .003). After controlling for depressive symptoms, significant correlations remained (
r
= .39,
p
= .01 and
r
= .50,
p
= .001, respectively). In addition, the estimated social cost, assessed before the speech task, significantly correlated with both the AUCg cortisol (
r
= .38,
p
= .011) and cortisol-DHEA ratios (
r
= .40,
p
= .007).
Conclusion
These results suggest that estimating social costs in social situations, as well as distorted self-perceptions of that stressor, is related to dysfunctional endocrine regulation.
Summary Organisms prefer to receive rewards sooner rather than later because they excessively discount the subjective value of future rewards, a phenomenon called delay discounting. Recent studies ...have reported an association between cortisol—which is secreted by the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis—and delay discounting. However, no study has examined whether acutely induced psychosocial stress modulates delay discounting. Thus, the present study examined the effect of acute psychosocial stress and its hormonal and inflammatory correlates on the rate of delay discounting. To accomplish this purpose, we assessed the participants’ discounting rates using the questionnaire version with inter-temporal choice before and after an acute psychosocial stress task (the Trier Social Stress Test; TSST). The results demonstrated that TSST increased rates of delay discounting in only cortisol responders (not in non-responders), indicating the possible influence of the pathway from the HPA axis to the dopaminergic systems under acute stress. Furthermore, the findings of correlation analysis indicated a U-shaped relationship between baseline level of C-reactive protein and delay discounting rate, suggesting a complex relationship between inflammatory markers and delay discounting rate.
•Salivary IL-6 levels are elevated for 20min following acute psychosocial stress.•Individuals with sustained elevation of IL-6 levels showed a lower cortisol response.•A greater IL-6 response was ...associated with a higher heart rate during the task.
Although interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been investigated frequently in stress research, knowledge regarding the biological processes of IL-6 in association with psychosocial stress remains incomplete. This study focused on salivary IL-6 and reports its temporal variation and biological correlates following acute psychosocial stress. Fifty healthy young adults (39 male and 11 female students) were subjected to the psychosocial stress test ‘Trier Social Stress Test’ (TSST), wherein the participants were asked to deliver a speech and perform a mental arithmetic task in front of 2 audiences. Collection of saliva samples, measurement of heart rate, and assessment of negative moods by visual analogue scales were conducted before, during, and after TSST. Salivary IL-6 levels increased by approximately 50% in response to the TSST and remained elevated for 20min after the stress tasks were completed. Cluster analyses revealed that individuals with sustained elevation of IL-6 levels following the TSST exhibited a lower cortisol response compared to individuals with lower IL-6 levels. In the correlation analyses, a greater IL-6 response was associated with a higher heart rate during the mental arithmetic task (r=.351, p<.05) and with a lower cortisol response (r=−.302, p<.05). This study demonstrates that salivary IL-6 levels are elevated for a relatively long period following acute psychosocial stress, and suggests that sympathetic activity and cortisol secretion are involved in elevation of salivary IL-6 levels.
The purpose of the present study was to examine Hypothalamus–Pituitary–Adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity in social anxiety. The present study used a standardized psychosocial stress protocol (the Trier ...Social Stress Test; TSST; Kirschbaum, C., Pirke, K.M., Hellhammer, D.H., 1993. The ‘Trier Social Stress Test’—a tool for investigating psychobiological stress responses in a laboratory setting. Neuropsychobiology 28, 76–81.) with 11 higher-social-anxiety and 11 lower-social-anxiety male college students. Psychological responses and salivary cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) reactivity and cortisol/DHEA ratio were assessed at seven different times. The results showed that there was a significantly lower cortisol responsiveness in the higher social anxiety group but there was no significant difference of DHEA responsiveness. Further analyses showed lower responses for the cortisol/DHEA ratio in the higher-social-anxiety group to the TSST. These results suggest that there may be reduced HPA axis reactivity to psychosocial stress in socially anxious people.
Levels of 3‐methoxy‐4‐hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) may reflect central noradrenergic activity. In this study, we investigated salivary MHPG changes after awakening, and explored their relationships ...with cortisol and peripheral autonomic activity. The participants were 25 college students. Saliva samples were collected on awakening and 30 min after awakening to determine MHPG and cortisol. Ambulatory electrocardiograms were obtained to assess heart rate, cardiac sympathetic index (CSI), and cardiac vagal index (CVI) before and after awakening. MHPG levels increased significantly during the first 30 min after awakening. Similarly, cortisol, heart rate, and CSI increased during the 30 min after awakening, but changes in MHPG did not correlate with changes in cortisol, heart rate, CSI, and CVI during that period. This study demonstrated that salivary MHPG levels increase after awakening, in common with cortisol, heart rate, and cardiac sympathetic activity.
Several studies have focused on the cortisol levels in fingernail samples as a possible index of cumulative hormone production; however, the biological validity of fingernail cortisol has not been ...fully established. We investigated the association between cortisol levels in fingernail samples and other biological specimens, including hair and saliva samples, in healthy young adults to determine whether fingernail cortisol was associated with past cumulative hormone production. Participants were 23 adults (14 men and 9 women; mean age = 22.7 ± 2.8 years). Saliva samples were collected three times per day for 30 days, and hair samples (1 cm) from participants' scalps were obtained. Fingernail samples were repeatedly collected for 8 months, considering growth rate of fingernail and time lag for fingernails to fully extend from the nail matrix. Cortisol levels in hair samples were significantly associated with the levels in fingernail samples that were obtained 3 months after hair collection (r = .48, p < .05). The 30-day integrated area under the curve, based on salivary cortisol levels at awakening and bedtime, were significantly associated with cortisol levels in fingernail samples that were collected 2-5 months after saliva collection. This finding was especially significant after adjusting for the awakening time when the saliva was collected. This study provided evidence that fingernail cortisol was associated with cumulative hormone levels measured several months before but not those in the present. The samples may be useful for endocrinological evaluation in the investigation of chronic stress, cortisol levels, and health; moreover, the use of fingernail samples would permit larger-scale studies.
Purpose
Accumulating evidence shows that effort–reward imbalance (ERI) at work can cause various health problems. However, few studies have investigated the biological pathways linking ERI and health ...outcomes, and their findings have been inconsistent. In this study, we investigated the associations between ERI, the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenocortical axis, and inflammation in a sample of police officers.
Methods
One hundred forty-two male police officers that were engaged in a working system of 24-h shifts were followed up during the work shift as well as during the two subsequent work-free days. Throughout this period, the participants provided two saliva samples each day for the 3-day period, and we measured the concentrations of cortisol and C-reactive protein (CRP) in the saliva. The police officers also completed the Japanese short version of the Effort–Reward Imbalance Questionnaire.
Results
The results of linear mixed model analyses controlled for possible confounding variables indicated that higher effort scores (
p
= 0.031) as well as effort–reward ratio (
p
= 0.080) were associated with lower cortisol levels, and the effect of effort was strengthened in the younger police officers (
p
= 0.017). Furthermore, higher effort scores were associated with higher CRP levels in younger police officers (
p
= 0.037).
Conclusions
Our results indicate that effort, a component of ERI, has physiological effects in younger police officers, which possibly contribute to the development of stress-related diseases.
The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is known to be related to abdominal symptoms, and the relationship between abdominal pain and cortisol secretory patterns has been previously investigated ...using a cross-sectional approach. Here, we investigated the effect of day-to-day variations in salivary cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate levels on abdominal symptoms in healthy individuals.
Eleven college students (4 males and 7 females) participated in this study. The participants were asked to collect their saliva immediately after awakening and before bedtime for eight consecutive days. They also completed a questionnaire about abdominal symptoms before bedtime. The linear mixed model was applied to analyze the effects of the day-by-day variability or the 8-day average adrenal hormone level (at awakening, before bedtime, slope from awakening to bedtime) on abdominal symptoms.
The day-to-day variability of cortisol levels before bedtime was negatively related with loose stool, while the day-to-day variability of the cortisol slope was positively correlated with loose stool. A low 8-day average dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate level at awakening was positively related with frequent bowel movements, loose stool, and long bouts of severe abdominal pain. Likewise, a low 8-day average dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate slope was positively related with long bouts of abdominal pain.
Low cortisol levels before bedtime and a steeper diurnal cortisol slope during the day may be related to bouts of diarrhea during the day.
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