Seasonal Variation in Human Salivary Cortisol Concentration

Measurement of cortisol concentration can contribute important information about an individual's ability to adjust to various environmental demands of both physical and psychosocial origin. However, one uncertainty that affects the possibilities of correctly interpreting and designing field stu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chronobiology international 2008-01, Vol.25 (6), p.923-937
Main Authors: Persson, Roger, Garde, Anne Helene, Hansen, Åse Marie, Österberg, Kai, Larsson, Britt, Ørbæk, Palle, Karlson, Björn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Arbetsmedicin och miljömedicin
Awakening cortisol response
Circadian Rhythm
Environmental Health and Occupational Health
Female
Health Sciences
Humans
Hydrocortisone - metabolism
Hypothalamus - metabolism
Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis
Hälsovetenskap
Male
Medical and Health Sciences
MEDICIN
Medicin och hälsovetenskap
MEDICINE
Middle Aged
Models, Biological
Pituitary Gland - metabolism
Pituitary-Adrenal System - physiology
Saliva - metabolism
Season
Seasons
Self-rated health
Work
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Summary:Measurement of cortisol concentration can contribute important information about an individual's ability to adjust to various environmental demands of both physical and psychosocial origin. However, one uncertainty that affects the possibilities of correctly interpreting and designing field studies is the lack of observations of the impact of seasonal changes on cortisol excretion. For this reason, the month-to-month changes in diurnal cortisol concentration, the awakening cortisol response (ACR), maximum morning concentration, and fall during the day were studied in a group of 24 healthy men and women 32 to 61 yrs of age engaged in active work. On one workday for 12 consecutive months, participants collected saliva at four time points for determination of cortisol: at awakening, +30 min, +8 h, and at 21:00 h. Data were analyzed by a repeated measures design with month (12 levels) and time-of-day (4 levels) as categorical predictors. Cortisol concentrations were analyzed on a log scale. The diurnal pattern of cortisol was similar across months (interaction between month and time of day: p>0.4). The main effects of month and time-of-day were statistically significant (p
ISSN:0742-0528
1525-6073
1525-6073
DOI:10.1080/07420520802553648