University of Massachusetts Boston, Department of Anthropology, 100 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125, USA.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2012 Feb;37(2):178-90. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.06.002. Epub 2011 Jun 29.
Although a growing body of research has documented important pathways by which the HPA axis mediates the interface between the psychosocial world and individual health, there is a paucity of data from nonwestern populations, particularly from those populations with distinct nutritional and infectious disease ecologies. The specific objectives of this study are: (1) to document variation in diurnal cortisol rhythms among the Tsimane', a remote population in the Bolivian Amazon, (2) to explore this variation by age and by gender, and (3) to compare diurnal rhythms from this study to other population based studies of cortisol conducted in industrialized nations. Salivary cortisol samples were collected twice daily, immediately upon waking and before bed, for three consecutive days from 303 participants (age 1.6-82 years, 1564 samples) in conjunction with the Tsimane' Amazonian Panel Study (TAPS). Cortisol rhythms showed strong age effects across the developmental span, with basal levels and slopes increasing into adulthood, although individuals older than 60 years demonstrated a precipitous flattening of the diurnal slope. Cortisol profiles were elevated in adult females compared to their age-matched male counterparts, and diurnal slopes, as well as mean cortisol concentrations among the Tsimane' were the lowest reported in any population based study of HPA axis function. Although the within-population variation in cortisol profiles was consistent with the established correlates of time of day, age, and sex, the between-population comparisons revealed dramatically lower levels of HPA activity among the Tsimane'. This study provides a benchmark against which to reference cortisol levels from industrialized populations, and expands the range of documented variation in HPA axis function in a nonwestern context.
尽管越来越多的研究记录了 HPA 轴介导心理社会世界与个体健康之间接口的重要途径，但来自非西方人群的数据，尤其是来自具有独特营养和传染病生态的人群的数据却很少。本研究的具体目标是：(1)记录玻利维亚亚马逊地区偏远的提斯曼人（Tsimane'）的日间皮质醇节律变化；(2) 按年龄和性别探讨这种变化；(3) 将本研究的日间节律与其他工业化国家进行的皮质醇人群研究进行比较。在与提斯曼亚马逊小组研究（TAPS）同时进行的 303 名参与者（年龄 1.6-82 岁，1564 个样本）中，连续三天每天两次在清晨醒来后和睡前立即采集唾液皮质醇样本。皮质醇节律在整个发育阶段表现出强烈的年龄效应，基础水平和斜率随成年期而增加，尽管 60 岁以上的个体表现出昼夜斜率急剧平坦化。与同龄男性相比，成年女性的皮质醇水平升高，并且提斯曼人的昼夜斜率以及平均皮质醇浓度是任何基于人群的 HPA 轴功能研究中报告的最低水平。尽管皮质醇曲线的人群内变异与昼夜、年龄和性别相关的既定因素一致，但人群间比较显示，提斯曼人的 HPA 活性水平明显较低。本研究为参考工业化人群的皮质醇水平提供了基准，并在非西方背景下扩展了 HPA 轴功能的已记录变异范围。
