Nist Marliese Dion, Sullenbarger Brent A, Harrison Tondi M, Pickler Rita H
Marliese Dion Nist, PhD, RNC-NIC, is PhD Presidential Postdoctoral Scholar, The Ohio State University College of Nursing, Columbus. Brent A. Sullenbarger, MA, is Research Lab Manager, The Ohio State University College of Nursing, Columbus. Tondi M. Harrison, PhD, RN, FAAN, is Associate Professor, The Ohio State University College of Nursing, Columbus. Rita H. Pickler, PhD, RN, FAAN, is the FloAnn Sours Easton Endowed Professor of Child and Adolescent Health and Director of the PhD and MS in Nursing Science Programs, The Ohio State University College of Nursing, Columbus.
Nurs Res. 2020 Jul/Aug;69(4):316-321. doi: 10.1097/NNR.0000000000000436.
Hair cortisol is a measure of chronic or repeated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation in response to physical or psychological stressors. Hair cortisol has been successfully used as a measure of chronic stress in adults and children; however, its use as a valid measure in preterm infants has been limited by challenges in measuring cortisol in the low mass samples collectable from these infants.
The purpose of this report is to present a novel protocol for the measurement of hair cortisol in very low mass hair samples.
Small changes were made to previously published protocols. After washing and pulverizing the hair samples, a double methanol cortisol extraction was performed. Samples were spiked with a known quantity of cortisol and analyzed in duplicate using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Hair cortisol was detectable in samples weighing between 0.4 and 10.9 mg. The mean cortisol level was 23.74 pg/mg hair (SD = 26.38).
With small changes to previously published laboratory protocols, cortisol is quantifiable in low mass hair samples from preterm infants. This technical advance is an important step toward quantifying the stress experiences of hospitalized preterm infants.
毛发皮质醇是衡量下丘脑 - 垂体 - 肾上腺轴对身体或心理应激源慢性或反复激活的指标。毛发皮质醇已成功用于衡量成人和儿童的慢性应激；然而，由于从这些婴儿收集的低质量样本中皮质醇测量存在挑战，其在早产儿中作为有效指标的应用受到限制。
本报告的目的是介绍一种用于测量极低质量毛发样本中毛发皮质醇的新方案。
对先前发表的方案进行了微小改动。在清洗和粉碎毛发样本后，进行了双甲醇皮质醇提取。向样本中加入已知量的皮质醇，并使用酶联免疫吸附测定法进行重复分析。
在重量为0.4至10.9毫克的样本中可检测到毛发皮质醇。平均皮质醇水平为23.74皮克/毫克毛发（标准差 = 26.38）。
对先前发表的实验室方案进行微小改动后，可对早产儿的低质量毛发样本中的皮质醇进行定量。这一技术进步是朝着量化住院早产儿应激经历迈出的重要一步。
