Assessing cortisol from hair samples in a large observational cohort: the Whitehall II study
Open accessAbstract
Hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) have been suggested to reflect long-term integrated cortisol levels, but most evidence of associations with co-variates is from small samples of healthy volunteers. The objective of this study was to describe the collection of hair samples in a large cohort study and report associations of demographic and health measures with HCC. We examined HCC measured from the 3cm hair segment near the scalp in 3507 participants (aged 59-83y) from The Whitehall II occupational cohort study of British civil servants. Hair samples were analysed using a column switching LC-APCI-MS/MS assay. Findings from mutually adjusted linear regression analyses revealed lower HCC in participants who reported use of hair dye [% difference (95%CI); -12.5 (-22.0, -1.9), p value=0.022] and evidence suggestive of differences by length of sample storage and seasonal variation. With regard to demographic variables, HCC was lower in women compared to men [-17.0 (-24.8, -8.4), p value <0.001] and higher in Black compared to other ethnic groups. Prevalent diabetes, use of systemic corticosteroids and cardiovascular medication were independently associated with higher HCC. With regard to health, depressive symptoms were associated with higher HCC [20.0 (8.1, 33.3), p value=0.001] following adjustment for physical disease and medication. We conclude that hair steroid analysis presents significant opportunities for assessing cortisol in large scale cohorts. Demographic factors, sample storage, season of collection and hair characteristics should be considered in future analyses. Health status, both mental and physical, is linked to HCC.
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Some cross-sectional studies have shown positive associations between hair cortisol and clinically diagnosed depressed patients (mostly inpatients) and between hair cortisol and self-reported depressive symptoms in non-clinical community samples.
“Some cross-sectional studies have also shown positive associations between hair cortisol and clinically diagnosed depressed patients (mostly inpatients; Dettenborn et al., 2012) as well as between hair cortisol and self-reported depressive symptoms in non-clinical community samples (Abell et al., 2016; Faresjo et al., 2013; Stalder et al., 2014; Wikenius et al., 2016).”
From Chronic Stress, Hair Cortisol and Depression: A Prospective and Longitudinal Study of Medical Internship (2018) · cites this paper as Abell et al., 2016
Existing literature does not clearly demonstrate season effects that could explain the early rise in hair cortisol seen here.
“However, existing literature does not clearly demonstrate season effects that could explain the early rise in hair cortisol seen here.”
From Chronic Stress, Hair Cortisol and Depression: A Prospective and Longitudinal Study of Medical Internship (2018) · cites this paper as Abell et al., 2016
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- Authors
- Abell, J. G., Stalder, T., Ferrie, J. E., Shipley, M. J., Kirschbaum, C., Kivimäki, M., & Kumari, M.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- University of Bristol (GB)
- Technische Universität Dresden (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Abell, Jessica G.
- Venue
- Psychoneuroendocrinology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2016-11
- Volume
- 73
- Pages
- 148-156
- ISSN
- 0306-4530 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5052124
- OpenAlex
- W2492736526
- Cited by
- 175
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 26 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 10.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Psychoneuroendocrinology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Open Access at Essex (University of Essex) (acceptedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Medical Research Council (K013351)
- National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (R01HL36310)
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG13196, R01AG34454)
- Agency for Health Care Policy Research (HS06516)
- Dunhill Medical Trust (R247/0512)
- British Heart Foundation
- Economic and Social Research Council (RES-596-28-0001)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adrenal Hormones and Disorders
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies
- Keywords
- hair cortisol, hair dyes, sample storage time, seasonal variation, sex differences, ethnic differences, diabetes mellitus, systemic corticosteroids, cardiovascular drugs, depressive symptoms, chronic stress biomarkers, Whitehall II cohort, public sector employees
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Depression, Diabetes Mellitus, Female, United Kingdom, Hair, Health Status, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Male, Middle Aged, Sex Factors, Cohort Studies
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