Developmental Neuroscience and Child Health, BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2010 Feb 3;6:1-7.
Abnormalities in both cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) have been reported in psychiatric disorders. Analysis of saliva, urine and blood cortisol and DHEA levels provides an index of hormone levels over a short time period. Unlike such conventional measures, fingernails incorporate endogenous hormones that passively diffuse to the nail matrix from capillaries during keratinization. This study piloted the measurement of cortisol and DHEA levels in fingernails as a potential measure of their accumulated secretion of steroid hormones over a prolonged time period.
Thirty-three university students (18-24 years) provided fingernail samples on two occasions over a school semester. The visits were scheduled so nail cortisol and DHEA levels were collected from periods when students might be under different levels of stress.
DURING THE PUTATIVELY STRESSFUL PERIOD, THE NAIL SAMPLES SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN THE CORTISOL: DHEA ratio (P = 0.0002) due to a significant decrease in the DHEA levels (P = 0.004) and a numerical but not statistically significant increase in the cortisol levels (P = 0.256).
This pilot study showed that nails can be used to measure cortisol and DHEA, a measure which may reflect environmental stress. More work is required to further validate this technique which may prove useful in studies of both healthy individuals and patient groups.
精神疾病患者的皮质醇和脱氢表雄酮（DHEA）水平通常出现异常。分析唾液、尿液和血液中的皮质醇和 DHEA 水平可以提供短时间内激素水平的指数。与这些传统方法不同，指甲中的内源性激素在角蛋白形成过程中会从毛细血管被动扩散到指甲基质。本研究初步尝试测量指甲中的皮质醇和 DHEA 水平，作为评估类固醇激素长期累积分泌的潜在指标。
33 名大学生（18-24 岁）在一学期内分两次提供指甲样本。两次就诊时间安排在学生可能处于不同压力水平的时间段。
在假定的应激期，指甲样本中的皮质醇：DHEA 比值显著增加（P=0.0002），这是由于 DHEA 水平显著下降（P=0.004），以及皮质醇水平虽有增加但无统计学意义（P=0.256）。
本初步研究表明，指甲可用于测量皮质醇和 DHEA，这一指标可能反映环境应激。需要进一步研究来验证这一技术，该技术可能对健康个体和患者群体的研究都具有一定价值。
