Biological indicators of sub-optimal health status

• Published in: Journal of traditional Chinese medicine 2013-10, Vol.33 (5), p.647-650
• Main Authors: Wang, Limin, Zhao, Xin, Chen, Jiaxu, Guo, Xiaoling, Liang, Xin, Yi, Danhui, Cui, Huating, Liu, Yueyun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; beta-Endorphin - blood; Biomarkers - blood; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Health Status; Humans; Hydrocortisone - blood; Immunoglobulin A - blood; Immunoglobulin G - blood; Male; Middle Aged; Random Allocation; T-Lymphocytes - cytology; Testosterone - blood; T淋巴细胞亚群; Young Adult; β-内啡肽; 健康状况; 免疫球蛋白A; 免疫球蛋白G; 生物指标; 肾上腺皮质; 血清睾酮
• ISSN: 0255-2922
• DOI: 10.1016/S0254-6272(14)60036-4

OBJECTIVE： To investigate biological indicators of sub-optimal health status and provide means of objective assessment of sub-optimal health status.METHODS： We set the unified standards for diagnosing a SHS. We tested various laboratory indicators in 407 cases that we selected randomly from2807 subjects and collected 15 mL of fasting venous blood from each case. We measured serum immunoglobulin A（IgA） and immunoglobulin G（IgG） concentrations, serum beta endorphins（β-EP）, cortisol（C）, testosterone（T）, plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone（ACTH） and serum T lymphocyte subsets CD3＋ and CD4＋.RESULTS： Mean serum testosterone concentrations and their ratio to cortisol（C） concentrations weresignificantly higher in the healthy group than in those with sub-optimal health status（P0.01）.Mean serum CD3＋ concentrations were significantly higher in those with sub-optimal health status than in the healthy group（P0.05）.CONCLUSION： Decreased serum testosterone/cortisol ratio may be an objective indication of sub-optimal health status. Changes in neuroendocrine and immunological indicators may explain some of the symptoms, including malaise and poor work performance, attributable to persistent or relapsing fatigue in subjects with sub-optimal health status.