Timescales of Human Hair Cortisol Dynamics

Abstract

Summary Cortisol is a major human stress hormone, secreted within minutes of acute stress. Cortisol also has slower patterns of variation: a strong circadian rhythm and a seasonal rhythm. However, longitudinal cortisol dynamics in healthy individuals over timescales of months has rarely been studied. Here, we measured longitudinal cortisol in 55 healthy participants using 12 cm of hair, which provides a retrospective measurement over one year. Individuals showed (non-seasonal) fluctuations averaging about 22% around their baseline. Fourier analysis reveals dominant slow frequencies with periods of months to a year. These frequencies can be explained by a mathematical model of the hormonal cascade that controls cortisol, the HPA axis, when including the slow timescales of tissue turnover of the glands. Measuring these dynamics is important for understanding disorders in which cortisol secretion is impaired over months, such as mood disorders, and to test models of cortisol feedback control.

Dynamics of thyroid diseases and thyroid‐axis gland masses

“…Similar gland‐mass models were developed for the beta‐cell‐insulin system (Topp et al , 2000 ; De Gaetano et al , 2008 ; Ha et al , 2016 ; Karin et al , 2016 ). Recent gland mass models also helped to explain slow timescales in cortisol dynamics (Karin et al , 2020 , 2021 ; Maimon et al , 2020 ), hormone seasonality (Tendler et al , 2021 ) and to offer a theory of endocrine autoimmune disease (Korem Kohanim et al , 2020 ).…”

Longitudinal Monitoring of Hair Cortisol Using Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry to Prevent Hypercortisolism in Patients Undergoing Glucocorticoid Replacement Therapy

“…16,17 The shape of the curve then provides a picture of variable steroidogenesis that can be viewed in combination with a patient's clinical history. With its cyclical form, Cushing syndrome has already been confirmed by hair cortisol analysis using LC-MS. 18,19…”

“…16,17 The shape of the curve then provides a picture of variable steroidogenesis that can be viewed in combination with a patient's clinical history. With its cyclical form, Cushing syndrome has already been confirmed by hair cortisol analysis using LC-MS. 18,19 Similarly, monitoring of glucocorticoid replacement therapy in AD by using hair cortisol levels could help personalize the dose and prevent serious adverse effects of hypercortisolism due to glucocorticoid replacement therapy. Hair cortisol analysis does not require the need of additional plasma or urine analysis and may be noninvasive and patientfriendly.…”

The Psychological and Biological Impact of “In-Person” vs. “Virtual” Choir Singing in Children and Adolescents: A Pilot Study Before and After the Acute Phase of the COVID-19 Outbreak in Austria

“…However, due to the small group size, the results should be considered with caution. Seasonal fluctuations could also have affected certain outcomes like saliva ( Miller et al, 2016 ) and blood ( Hadlow et al, 2014 ; Tendler et al, 2021 ) cortisol, because the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis varies with the season, although it is not empirically clear how strongly these influences are reflected in hair cortisol in humans (see Maimon et al, 2020 ). Previous findings are inconsistent and diverse, suggesting predominantly low hair cortisol in winter and high hair cortisol in summer (e.g., Braig et al, 2015 ; Fischer et al, 2017 ) but also high hair cortisol in winter (e.g., Abell et al, 2016 ) or no seasonal effect at all (e.g., van den Heuvel et al, 2020 ).…”