Dexamethasone in resting and exercising men. II. Effects on adrenocortical hormones

Abstract

Dexamethasone in resting and exercising men. II. Effects on adrenocortical hormones. J. Appl. Physiol. 87(1): 183-188, 1999.-This study presents the reactions of adrenocorticosteroids (cortisol and aldosterone) and sex steroids [testosterone, androstenedione, and dehydroepiandrosterone and its sulfate (DHAS)] 1) to a dexamethasone (Dex) treatment, which is expected to lower steroid levels via the ACTH blockade, and 2) to an exercise bout at maximal O 2 consumption, which is expected to increase steroid production via ACTH stimulation. Consistent with the decrease in ACTH, all steroids except testosterone reacted negatively to Dex, independently of the dose (0.5 and 1.5 mg administered twice daily for 4.5 days). After exercise, plasma ACTH rose to 600% of basal value, resulting in a significant increase in aldosterone and adrenal androgens, but cortisol and DHAS were unaffected. This apparently surprising result can be explained by differences in peripheral metabolism: a theoretical calculation predicted that after 15 min the increase in hormone concentration may only reach 12% for cortisol and 2% for DHAS. For cortisol and adrenal androgens, assays were carried out using plasma and saliva. The consistent results obtained from the two matrices allow us to consider salivary assays as a useful tool for steroid abuse detection. dexamethasone suppression test; exercise; adrenal androgens; cortisol; saliva IN LINE WITH OUR OTHER STUDY examining the effects of dexamethasone (Dex) on bioenergetics and hydromineral regulation in healthy men during exercise, this study was intended to clarify the effects of Dex administration as well as exercise on adreno-and sex steroids.

Short-term glucocorticoid intake improves exercise endurance in healthy recreationally trained women

“…In agreement with most of the studies conducted after either acute or short-term GC administration (Arlettaz et al 2006(Arlettaz et al , 2007(Arlettaz et al , 2008aLac et al 1999;Marquet et al 1999), we found a signiWcant decrease in both ACTH and DHEA basal values in our healthy women after 1 week of prednisone treatment, with no signiWcant increase from these basal concentrations during exercise. This demonstrates that short-term treatment with GC even at the therapeutic level induces a complete inactivation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis during submaximal exercise, irrespective of gender.…”

The effect of anaerobic exercise on salivary cortisol, testosterone and immunoglobulin (A) in boys aged 15–16 years

“…In the present study, the participants provided unstimulated saliva samples at rest, and, as reported previously in the literature, at 5 min post exercise (Engels et al 2003;Kraemer et al 1996;Volek et al 1997;Viru et al 1998). Nonetheless, according to Lac et al (1999), the rise in cortisol level will appear only after a minimal delay of 20 min. In line with this, Kirschbaum and Hellhammer Table 2 Power indices and heart rates PPO peak power output (using participants' best PPO from 6 sprints); Max FI% Greatest fatigue index value; APPO average peak power output (across sprints 1-6); AMPO average mean power output (across sprints 1-6); HR heart rate (1989) recommend that investigators should report more than one post exercise sample, and that, where possible, one sample should be obtained approximately 30 min after exercise.…”

Rapid activation of Na + /H + -exchange in MDCK cells by aldosterone involves MAP-kinases ERK 1/2

“…Application of 10 -9 mol/l aldosterone also stimulated NHE (126±10% of control, n=45, P<0.05). This concentration of aldosterone is only slightly above the physiological one and can be easily observed under pathophysiological conditions with elevated aldosterone concentrations [5,8,14,27,29,33].…”