Institute of Mountain Emergency Medicine, Eurac Research, Bolzano, Italy.
Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria.
High Alt Med Biol. 2019 Dec;20(4):337-343. doi: 10.1089/ham.2019.0034. Epub 2019 Aug 14.
The associations among cortisol levels, body water status, and acute mountain sickness (AMS) remain unclear. We investigated associations between AMS prevalence and severity with resting saliva cortisol levels at low altitude (LA) and high altitude (HA) and with fluid balance during a HA stay. Twenty-two physically fit and healthy participants (12 women, 10 men) were transported to HA (Testa Grigia, 3480 m). In the late afternoon at LA, on the next day 3-4 hours after arrival at HA and in the morning after an overnight stay, heart rate, oxygen saturation, and systolic and diastolic blood pressures were measured in a sitting position after 10 minutes of rest; cortisol levels were quantified in saliva samples taken pre-ascent and 3-4 hours after arrival at HA. AMS was scored with the 1993 Lake Louise Score (LLS, cut-off ≥3). Urine volume and fluid and food intake were recorded during the altitude stay. Pre-ascent cortisol levels were associated with fluid retention during the altitude stay ( = 0.33, < 0.05) and both were positively related to the LLS ( = 0.49 and = 0.26, < 0.05, respectively). In conclusion, resting LA cortisol levels and fluid retention upon rapid exposure to altitude seem to be associated with AMS. This suggests a potential link among cortisol homeostasis, fluid balance, and AMS risk.
皮质醇水平、体液状态与急性高山病（AMS）之间的关联仍不清楚。我们研究了 AMS 患病率和严重程度与低海拔（LA）和高海拔（HA）静息唾液皮质醇水平以及 HA 停留期间液体平衡之间的关系。22 名身体健康的参与者（12 名女性，10 名男性）被运送到 HA（Testa Grigia，海拔 3480 米）。在 LA 的傍晚、到达 HA 的次日 3-4 小时以及在 HA 过夜后的早晨，在休息 10 分钟后，以坐姿测量心率、血氧饱和度以及收缩压和舒张压；在 HA 到达前和到达后 3-4 小时，从唾液样本中定量皮质醇水平。使用 1993 年路易斯湖评分（LLS，临界值≥3）对 AMS 进行评分。在海拔停留期间记录尿量以及液体和食物摄入量。HA 前皮质醇水平与海拔停留期间的液体潴留有关（ = 0.33， < 0.05），两者均与 LLS 呈正相关（ = 0.49 和 = 0.26， < 0.05，分别）。总之，快速暴露于海拔时的 LA 皮质醇水平和液体潴留似乎与 AMS 有关。这表明皮质醇稳态、液体平衡和 AMS 风险之间存在潜在联系。
