Bournemouth University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Poole, Dorset BH12 5BB, UK.
Center for Forensic Hair Analytics, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Steroids. 2020 Nov;163:108712. doi: 10.1016/j.steroids.2020.108712. Epub 2020 Jul 31.
This study aimed to investigate correlation between hair cortisol levels and perceived stress scale (PSS) in addition to a range of demographic and physiological factors in a sample of older adults.
Hair cortisol concentrations were established from 42 older adults aged between 60 and 80 years old. Age, sex, hair colour, smoking status, employment status, daytime sleeping, medication, waist to hip ratio (WHR) and PSS scores were assessed through a questionnaire. Hair cortisol concentration was assessed through liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass-spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).
Amongst the older adult group there was no statistically significant correlation between hair cortisol concentration and age, employment status, daytime sleep duration, WHR or PSS. When compared to previous data assessing hair cortisol in toddlers (7 months to 3 years old), adolescents (12-17 years old) and adults (18-60 years old) it is observed that there is a trend for higher hair cortisol in older adults (60-80 years old). Hair cortisol concentrations were significantly higher in males (n = 20) than in females (n = 22) and in participants with dark brown hair (n = 8). No relationship was investigated between hair cortisol concentration and smoking status or medication intake.
The results confirm that hair samples are a useful alternative to the current mediums that are used to analyse biological cortisol. The results also validate the use of LC-MS/MS as an effective analytical method for the quantitation of hair cortisol concentrations.
本研究旨在调查老年人样本中头发皮质醇水平与感知压力量表（PSS）之间的相关性，以及一系列人口统计学和生理学因素。
从 42 名年龄在 60 至 80 岁之间的老年人中建立头发皮质醇浓度。通过问卷评估年龄、性别、头发颜色、吸烟状况、就业状况、白天睡眠时间、用药、腰臀比（WHR）和 PSS 评分。通过液相色谱-串联质谱法（LC-MS/MS）评估头发皮质醇浓度。
在老年组中，头发皮质醇浓度与年龄、就业状况、白天睡眠时间、WHR 或 PSS 之间无统计学显著相关性。与评估婴儿（7 个月至 3 岁）、青少年（12-17 岁）和成年人（18-60 岁）头发皮质醇的先前数据相比，观察到老年人（60-80 岁）的头发皮质醇水平呈上升趋势。男性（n=20）的头发皮质醇浓度明显高于女性（n=22）和深棕色头发的参与者（n=8）。未研究头发皮质醇浓度与吸烟状况或用药之间的关系。
研究结果证实，头发样本是分析生物皮质醇的当前介质的有用替代物。结果还验证了 LC-MS/MS 作为定量头发皮质醇浓度的有效分析方法的使用。
