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Diurnal pattern of salivary cortisol and progression of aortic stiffness: Longitudinal study

Ai Ikeda1, Andrew Steptoe2, Martin Shipley2

  • 1Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Institute of Epidemiology and Health, Faculty of Population Health Sciences, University College London, London, UK; Department of Public Health, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.

Psychoneuroendocrinology
|September 13, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Stress hormone dysregulation, specifically hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction, predicted aortic stiffness progression in women over five years. This highlights a potential biomarker for cardiovascular disease risk.

Area of Science:

  • Endocrinology
  • Cardiovascular Science
  • Psychoneuroimmunology

Background:

  • The link between stress and cardiovascular disease is established.
  • Longitudinal studies on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation and subclinical cardiovascular disease are limited.
  • Diurnal salivary cortisol serves as a marker for stress levels.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between diurnal salivary cortisol patterns and the progression of aortic stiffness over five years.
  • To examine whether HPA axis dysregulation predicts subclinical cardiovascular disease development.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from 3281 participants in the Whitehall II prospective study.
  • Assessed diurnal salivary cortisol via daytime slope and bedtime levels from six saliva samples.
  • Measured aortic stiffness using carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) at baseline and after five years.
  • Employed linear mixed models to analyze associations.

Main Results:

  • No association was found between diurnal salivary cortisol and baseline PWV.
  • Among women, a shallower salivary cortisol slope and higher bedtime cortisol levels predicted a five-year increase in PWV.
  • These associations were not observed in men.

Conclusions:

  • HPA axis dysregulation, indicated by salivary cortisol patterns, predicts the progression rate of aortic stiffness in women.
  • Findings suggest salivary cortisol may serve as a biomarker for cardiovascular risk in women.
Abstract

Keywords:
Aortic pulse wave velocityAortic stiffnessCortisolLongitudinal study

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