Pattern of plasma cortisol during the 24-hour sleep/wake cycle in the rhesus monkey

The 24-h pattern of plasma cortisol and changes induced by alterations of the sleep/wake cycle were studied in 12 male rhesus monkeys. The chair-living animals were chronically prepared with a right atrial catheter and electroencephalogram electrodes. Hormone (blood samples every 15 min) and continuous activity/electroencephalogram profiles were obtained from the adjacent room for 96 h (4 animals), 24 h or various shorter periods of time. Plasma cortisol showed a circadian rhythm with a late evening minimum (1900-2100 h; approximately 60 micrograms/liter) and an early morning maximum (0400-0700 h; approximately 160 micrograms/liter). Superimposed were episodic fluctuations for which powerspectral analysis showed a weakly expressed 30- to 60-min periodicity in 24 of 27 24-h profiles. Cross-correlation analysis indicated no relation between cortisol on the one hand and daytime activity-arousal, nocturnal waking, slow wave sleep (SWS) or rapid eye movement sleep (REM), respectively. Five-hour total sleep deprivation, specific SWS-deprivation, and severe disruption of the REM-pattern provided no evidence for an immediate effect of sleep onset or sleep stages on the cortisol pattern. Cortisol rose significantly after termination of the 5-h deprivation, but the mechanism of this elevation remains to be determined. Cross-correlation analysis between the cortisol time series and those of GH, PRL, and TSH from already published data gave no evidence for a regular temporal relationship between the episodic patterns of these hormones.