TY - JOUR
T1 - Gender determines ACTH recovery from hypercortisolemia in healthy older humans
AU - Sharma, Animesh
AU - Aoun, Paul
AU - Wigham, Jean
AU - Weist, Sue
AU - Veldhuis, Johannes D.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Jill Smith for support of manuscript preparation; Sandra Cabral for data analysis and graphics; the Mayo Immunochemical Laboratory for assay assistance; and the Mayo research nursing staff for implementing the protocol. Supported in part via DK073148 and DK050456 (Metabolic Studies Core of the Minnesota Obesity Center) from the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD). The project described was supported by Grant Number UL1 TR000135 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCTS). Contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
PY - 2013/12
Y1 - 2013/12
N2 - Objective Available clinical data raise the possibility that stress-adaptive mechanisms differ by gender. However, this notion has not been rigorously tested in relation to cortisol-mediated negative feedback. Materials/Methods Degree of ACTH inhibition during and recovery from an experimental cortisol clamp was tested in 20 healthy older subjects (age 60 ± 2.2 y). Volunteers received oral placebo or ketoconazole (KTCZ) to inhibit adrenal steroidogenesis along with i.v. infusions of saline or a low vs high physiological dose of cortisol in a prospectively randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled design. ACTH and cortisol concentrations were measured every 10 min during the feedback-clamp phase and thereafter (recovery or escape phase). Corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG) was measured, and free cortisol concentrations were calculated. Results Gender did not determine mean ACTH concentrations during the saline or cortisol feedback-clamp phases per se. However, women had markedly impaired ACTH recovery after stopping both low- and high-dose cortisol infusions compared with men (P = 0.005, KTCZ/low-dose cortisol arm; and P = 0.006, KTCZ/high-dose cortisol arm). Decreased ACTH recovery in women was accompanied by lower total and free cortisol concentrations, pointing to heightened feedback inhibition of hypothalamo-pituitary drive of ACTH secretion as the main mechanism. Conclusions In summary, gender or a factor related to gender, such as sex steroids or body composition, determines recovery of ACTH secretion from cortisol-enforced negative feedback. Attenuated ACTH recovery in post-menopausal women may have relevance to sex differences in stress-related adaptations.
AB - Objective Available clinical data raise the possibility that stress-adaptive mechanisms differ by gender. However, this notion has not been rigorously tested in relation to cortisol-mediated negative feedback. Materials/Methods Degree of ACTH inhibition during and recovery from an experimental cortisol clamp was tested in 20 healthy older subjects (age 60 ± 2.2 y). Volunteers received oral placebo or ketoconazole (KTCZ) to inhibit adrenal steroidogenesis along with i.v. infusions of saline or a low vs high physiological dose of cortisol in a prospectively randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled design. ACTH and cortisol concentrations were measured every 10 min during the feedback-clamp phase and thereafter (recovery or escape phase). Corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG) was measured, and free cortisol concentrations were calculated. Results Gender did not determine mean ACTH concentrations during the saline or cortisol feedback-clamp phases per se. However, women had markedly impaired ACTH recovery after stopping both low- and high-dose cortisol infusions compared with men (P = 0.005, KTCZ/low-dose cortisol arm; and P = 0.006, KTCZ/high-dose cortisol arm). Decreased ACTH recovery in women was accompanied by lower total and free cortisol concentrations, pointing to heightened feedback inhibition of hypothalamo-pituitary drive of ACTH secretion as the main mechanism. Conclusions In summary, gender or a factor related to gender, such as sex steroids or body composition, determines recovery of ACTH secretion from cortisol-enforced negative feedback. Attenuated ACTH recovery in post-menopausal women may have relevance to sex differences in stress-related adaptations.
KW - Aging
KW - Cortisol
KW - Feedback
KW - Human
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U2 - 10.1016/j.metabol.2013.08.014
DO - 10.1016/j.metabol.2013.08.014
M3 - Article
C2 - 24074810
AN - SCOPUS:84887990752
SN - 0026-0495
VL - 62
SP - 1819
EP - 1829
JO - Metabolism: Clinical and Experimental
JF - Metabolism: Clinical and Experimental
IS - 12
ER -