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Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Fecal Glucocorticoid Analysis: Non-invasive Adrenal Monitoring in Equids
Published on: April 25, 2016
The glucocorticoid sensitivity of lymphocytes changes according to the activity of the
J Sauer1, E Polack, S Wikinski
1Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry, Clinical Institute, Munich, Germany.
Abstract:
Cortisol inhibition of phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-induced lymphocyte activation was studied in vitro in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of patients with pathologies of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system (n = 18) as well as in students under and out of academic stress. In patients with HPA pathologies, cortisol-induced inhibition of lymphocyte interleukin-2 (IL-2) secretion in vitro positively correlated (p < .005) with IL-2 synthesis, such that lymphocytes secreting less IL-2 were less cortisol sensitive. Similarly, in stressed students there was a positive correlation (p < .02) between lymphocyte DNA synthesis and cortisol inhibition in vitro. Academic stress also resulted in a decrease (p < .01) of lymphocyte cortisol sensitivity. The same tendency was observed in patients with Cushing's syndrome when compared with hypocortisolemic patients. Normal controls whose lymphocytes were glucocorticoid resistant showed higher lymphocyte activation than glucocorticoid sensitive subjects. This pattern of glucocorticoid sensitivity was reversed in individuals with abnormal glucocorticoid secretion due to HPA pathology or stress.
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