Chemical processing and shampooing impact cortisol measured in human hair

Hoffman, M. Camille; Karban, Laura V; Benitez, Patrick; Goodteacher, Angela; Laudenslager, Mark L.

doi:10.25011/cim.v37i4.21731

Cited by 57 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Similar findings were reported previously Kirschbaum et al, 2009;, but not consistently. For example, Hoffman and colleagues (2014) reported that some chemical processing (e.g., dye products, peroxide) and excessively shampooed hair affected cortisol measurement (Hoffman et al, 2014). Similarly, sex and the annual family income were not associated with hair cortisol, as noted in other samples Karlen et al, 2011;Vaghri et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Validation of an adapted procedure to collect hair for cortisol determination in adolescents

Ouellet‐Morin

Laurin

Robitaille

et al. 2016

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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Introduction: In the last decades, cortisol has been extensively studied in association to early exposure to adversity as well as in the etiology of a number of physical and mental problems.While saliva and blood samples allow the measurement of acute changes in cortisol secretion, hair samples are thought to provide a valid retrospective measure of chronic cortisol secretion over an extended period of time. Nevertheless, the existing protocol for hair collection involves considerable financial and logistical challenges when performed in large epidemiological studies.Objective: This study aimed to validate an adapted collection protocol asking participants to sample their hair at home and to send it back to our laboratory by regular mail. Methods:Participants were 34 teenagers between 17 and 18 years of age. They participated in two hair collections: a) at home, with the help of someone they know, and b) in our laboratory, with a trained research assistant. Results: We noted a strong correlation between cortisol ascertained from hair collected at home and at the laboratory. No mean difference in cortisol levels could be detected between the two protocols. Moreover, we showed that a wide range of hair-related, sociodemographic, lifestyle factors that may be associated with hair cortisol levels did not affect the association between cortisol measures derived from each protocol. Conclusion: Our study provides initial support that reliable measures of chronic cortisol secretion could be obtained by asking adolescents to collect a sample of their hair at home and send them to the laboratory by regular mail. This adapted protocol has considerable financial and logistical advantages in large epidemiological studies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Validation of an adapted procedure to collect hair for cortisol determination in adolescents

Ouellet‐Morin

Laurin

Robitaille

et al. 2016

Psychoneuroendocrinology

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“…Women were excluded if they had a multiple gestation, reported daily illicit drug or alcohol abuse, had medical conditions requiring chronic corticosteroid use (topical, inhaled, or oral), had active infections such as human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis, influenza or other clinically significant viral illnesses during pregnancy, 19 or used bleach or peroxide products on their hair as these products are known to affect measured hair cortisol. 18 Gestational age was a best clinical estimate based on a combination of participant-reported last menstrual period and first dating ultrasound. Hollingshead index was used to characterize socioeconomic status (SES) and is based on marital status, employment, level of education attained, and occupational prestige.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…15 Assessment of the hair cortisol concentration provides a reliable and non-invasive measure of chronic HPA activity. 16,17 Differences have been noted in hair cortisol concentration in relation to chemical hair processing, 18 season of delivery, and hair color at the end of the third trimester in term pregnancies. 16 Taking these data into consideration, the objective of this study was to determine the relationships between psychological and physiologic measures of stress, mood, gestational age at delivery and preterm birth (PTB).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measures of Maternal Stress and Mood in Relation to Preterm Birth

Hoffman

Mazzoni

Wagner

et al. 2016

Obstetrics &Amp; Gynecology

146

120

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OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationships between psychological and physiologic measures of stress, mood and gestational age at delivery and preterm birth (PTB). METHODS This prospective cohort study recruited healthy women in the early second trimester, 18–45 years of age. Validated psychological measures of perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety were completed at 16, 22, 28, 34 and 40 weeks of gestation. Cortisol concentration was measured in maternal hair at 16, 28, and 40 weeks of gestation to approximate 1st, 2nd, and 3rd trimester levels of physiologic stress. Statistical methods included: analyses of variance (ANOVA), t-tests, Chi-square, Pearson correlations, regression modeling and mediation analysis as appropriate. Hair cortisol concentrations were natural log transformed to normalize values. RESULTS Eleven (12%) out of 90 included women had a spontaneous preterm birth or preterm premature rupture of the membranes. Perceived stress at 16 weeks of gestation correlated with both 2nd trimester cortisol concentration (r= 0.28, p=0.007) and earlier gestational age at delivery (r= −0.30, p< 0.01). Gestational age at delivery was also negatively correlated with cortisol concentration in the 2nd trimester (r= −0.25, p=0.02) and 2nd trimester cortisol concentration was higher in preterm (2.7 ± 0.4 LN pg/mg) vs term (2.0 ± 0.7 LN pg/mg, P<0.001) delivered women. Using mediation statistics, the association between the psychological measure, the physiologic measure, and gestational age at delivery was mainly driven by increased physiologic stress (hair cortisol concentration) in the 2nd trimester (difference in coefficients (standard error)= −0.05(0.02)),. CONCLUSION Higher perceived stress in the 2nd trimester is associated with both elevated 2nd trimester hair cortisol concentration and gestational age at delivery. Physiologic measure of stress in the 2nd trimester appears most strongly associated with preterm birth. Identification and amelioration of early pregnancy stressors may attenuate physiologic stress and ultimately affect preterm birth.

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“…Factors that can influence hair cortisol levels include preterm birth and nutritional status [20] in addition to the frequency of hair washing, use of emollients and creams (which may contain steroids), race, socioeconomic status, and biological characteristics of the hair collected [3, 15, 21, 22]. …”

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confidence: 99%

Methodological Considerations for Hair Cortisol Measurements in Children

Slominski

Rovnaghi

Anand

2015

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring

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Background Hair cortisol levels are used increasingly as a measure for chronic stress in young children. We propose modifications to the current methods used for hair cortisol analysis to more accurately determine reference ranges for hair cortisol across different populations and age groups. Methods The authors compared standard (finely cutting hair) vs. milled methods for hair processing (n=16), developed a 4-step extraction process for hair protein and cortisol (n=16), and compared liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS) vs. ELISA assays for measuring hair cortisol (n=28). The extraction process included sequential incubations in methanol and acetone, repeated twice. Hair protein was measured via spectrophotometric ratios at 260/280 nm to indicate the hair dissolution state using a BioTek® plate reader and dedicated software. Hair cortisol was measured using an ELISA assay kit. Individual (n=13), pooled hair samples (n=12) with high, intermediate, and low cortisol values and the ELISA assay internal standards (n=3) were also evaluated by LCMS. Results Milled and standard methods showed highly correlated hair cortisol (rs=0.951, p<0.0001) and protein values (rs=0.902, p=0.0002), although higher yields of cortisol and protein were obtained from the standard method in 13/16 and 14/16 samples respectively (p<0.05). Four sequential extractions yielded additional amounts of protein (36.5%, 27.5%, 30.5%, 3.1%) and cortisol (45.4%, 31.1%, 15.1%, 0.04%) from hair samples. Cortisol values measured by LCMS and ELISA were correlated (rs=0.737; p<0.0001), although cortisol levels (median [IQR]) detected in the same samples by LCMS (38.7 [14.4, 136] ng/ml) were lower than by ELISA (172.2 [67.9, 1051] ng/ml). LCMS also detected cortisone, which comprised 13.4% (3.7%, 25.9%) of the steroids detected. Conclusion Methodological studies suggest that finely cutting hair with sequential incubations in methanol and acetone, repeated twice, extracts greater yields of cortisol than does milled hair. Based on these findings, at least three incubations may be required to extract most of the cortisol in human hair samples. In addition, ELISA-based assays showed greater sensitivity for measuring hair cortisol levels than LCMS-based assays.

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Chemical processing and shampooing impact cortisol measured in human hair

Cited by 57 publications

References 25 publications

Validation of an adapted procedure to collect hair for cortisol determination in adolescents

Validation of an adapted procedure to collect hair for cortisol determination in adolescents

Measures of Maternal Stress and Mood in Relation to Preterm Birth

Methodological Considerations for Hair Cortisol Measurements in Children

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