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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

Extraction and Analysis of Cortisol from Human and Monkey Hair
Published on: January 24, 2014
Increased cortisol concentrations in hair of severely traumatized Ugandan individuals with PTSD
Susann Steudte1, Iris-Tatjana Kolassa, Tobias Stalder
1Department of Psychology, Technical University of Dresden, Dresden, Germany. s.steudte@biopsych.tu-dresden.de
Abstract:
Previous research has mostly suggested general hypocortisolism in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, PTSD is a complex disorder and opposite neuroendocrinological changes have also been reported. Amongst other things, heterogeneous results might be related to differences in sample characteristics as well as methodological factors associated with the assessment of cortisol. The current study used the novel method of hair cortisol analysis to examine cumulative long-term cortisol secretion in a severely traumatized PTSD sample. Hair samples of 10 traumatized individuals with PTSD and 17 traumatized controls without PTSD from a civil war area of Northern Uganda were analyzed. Results revealed that hair samples of PTSD participants contained higher cortisol levels than those of traumatized controls (p<.05). Furthermore, a positive association between hair cortisol levels and the number of lifetime traumatic events was found (p<.05). The current hair cortisol findings suggest that PTSD in severely traumatized individuals who continue to live under stressful conditions might be associated with general hypercortisolism. Future research examining participants after traumatic events at different follow-up periods is needed to determine the specific influence of time interval since traumatization.
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