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Mazgelytė E, Valatkevičiūtė A, Songailienė J, Utkus A, Burokienė N, Karčiauskaitė D. Association of hair glucocorticoid levels with sleep quality indicators: a pilot study in apparently healthy perimenopausal and menopausal women. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2023; 14:1186014. [PMID: 37529598 PMCID: PMC10390219 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1186014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Poor sleep quality is associated with different physical and mental health diseases. It is proposed that increased hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity is a potential contributor affecting sleep pattern and quality. We aimed to analyze the relationship between subjective sleep quality indicators and hair glucocorticoid levels among relatively healthy perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. Methods A total of 145 women aged 50-64 y.o. were enrolled in the cross-sectional pilot study. Sleep quality was evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, while stress level was measured using the Perceived Stress Scale. Hair cortisol and cortisone levels were determined by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Results Statistically significant positive relationship was found between hair cortisol concentration and Pittsburgh sleep quality index score. Similarly, statistically significant positive associations were observed between hair total glucocorticoid level and Pittsburgh sleep quality index, sleep disturbance, and Perceived Stress Scale scores. Subjects with prolonged sleep latency had significantly higher hair cortisol and total hair glucocorticoid concentrations compared with individuals whose sleep latency is not disturbed. Additionally, Chi-squared test indicated that lower hair cortisol concentration was significantly related to better sleep efficiency. Conclusion Increased hair glucocorticoid (cortisol, cortisone) levels were found to be related with worse sleep quality measured by Pittsburgh sleep quality index score.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eglė Mazgelytė
- Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Agnė Valatkevičiūtė
- Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Jurgita Songailienė
- Department of Human and Medical Genetics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Algirdas Utkus
- Department of Human and Medical Genetics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Neringa Burokienė
- Clinics of Internal Diseases and Family Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Dovilė Karčiauskaitė
- Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
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Mazgelytė E, Burokienė N, Vysocka A, Narkevičius M, Petrėnas T, Kaminskas A, Songailienė J, Utkus A, Karčiauskaitė D. Higher Levels of Stress-Related Hair Steroid Hormones Are Associated with the Increased SCORE2 Risk Prediction Algorithm in Apparently Healthy Women. J Cardiovasc Dev Dis 2022; 9:jcdd9030070. [PMID: 35323618 PMCID: PMC8955541 DOI: 10.3390/jcdd9030070] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2022] [Revised: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 02/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the major cause of death worldwide. Although the importance of conventional CVD risk factors, including older age, male gender, hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia and hyperglycemia, is well-studied, psychosocial stress, which is considered an independent CVD risk factor, requires further investigation. Thus, we aimed to investigate the association between long-term secretion of stress-related steroid hormones, including cortisol, cortisone and dehydroepiandrosterone, and the 10-year fatal and non-fatal CVD risk estimated by the SCORE2 risk prediction algorithm, as well as traditional CVD risk factors in a group of apparently healthy women. A total of 145 women (aged 50–64 years) participating in the national CVD prevention program were enrolled in the study. Sociodemographic, lifestyle, health-related characteristics, stress, anxiety and sleep quality indicators were evaluated using specific questionnaires. Anthropometric and arterial blood pressure measures were assessed by trained personnel, lipid and glucose metabolism biomarkers were measured using routine methods, and hair steroid hormone levels were determined by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The results showed that higher levels of hair cortisol and cortisone are associated with increased SCORE2 values. Moreover, significant associations between hair glucocorticoids and individual cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia and hyperglycemia, were found. These findings indicate that stress-related hair steroid hormones might be valuable biomarkers for CVD prediction and prevention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eglė Mazgelytė
- Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M. K. Čiurlionio st. 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania;
- Correspondence:
| | - Neringa Burokienė
- Clinics of Internal Diseases, Family Medicine and Oncology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M. K. Čiurlionio st. 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania; (N.B.); (A.V.); (M.N.)
| | - Agata Vysocka
- Clinics of Internal Diseases, Family Medicine and Oncology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M. K. Čiurlionio st. 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania; (N.B.); (A.V.); (M.N.)
| | - Martynas Narkevičius
- Clinics of Internal Diseases, Family Medicine and Oncology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M. K. Čiurlionio st. 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania; (N.B.); (A.V.); (M.N.)
| | - Tomas Petrėnas
- Department of Human and Medical Genetics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M. K. Čiurlionio st. 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania; (T.P.); (A.K.); (J.S.); (A.U.)
| | - Andrius Kaminskas
- Department of Human and Medical Genetics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M. K. Čiurlionio st. 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania; (T.P.); (A.K.); (J.S.); (A.U.)
| | - Jurgita Songailienė
- Department of Human and Medical Genetics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M. K. Čiurlionio st. 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania; (T.P.); (A.K.); (J.S.); (A.U.)
| | - Algirdas Utkus
- Department of Human and Medical Genetics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M. K. Čiurlionio st. 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania; (T.P.); (A.K.); (J.S.); (A.U.)
| | - Dovilė Karčiauskaitė
- Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M. K. Čiurlionio st. 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania;
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Smaliukienė R, Bekesiene S, Mažeikienė A, Larsson G, Karčiauskaitė D, Mazgelytė E, Vaičaitienė R. Hair Cortisol, Perceived Stress, and the Effect of Group Dynamics: A Longitudinal Study of Young Men during Compulsory Military Training in Lithuania. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19031663. [PMID: 35162686 PMCID: PMC8835136 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19031663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Revised: 01/27/2022] [Accepted: 01/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Previous research shows a nonlinear dependency between hair cortisol concentrations and perceived stress levels. This may be due to stress being targeted at the individual level despite it also being a social phenomenon which is often affected by group dynamics. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the influence of perceived stress on the hair cortisol level, considering the impact of the variables of group dynamics (interpersonal, task, and norm cohesion). Information was collected on 11 groups of, in total, 112 young men in three phases of time during their compulsory military training (covering nine months in total). The classification and regression tree (C&RT) method was used to predict hair cortisol concentrations in groups. The results show that the variability of the hair cortisol level in young men groups can be explained by perceived stress only when the groups were in formation process (47.7% normalised importance in Model 1) and when the groups were working on their final tasks (37.80% normalised importance in Model 3); meanwhile, the importance of perceived stress in explaining hair cortisol concentrations is low when the group is in a routine period of a group life-span (28.9% normalised importance in Model 2). Interpersonal cohesion (normalised importance 100% in Model 1 and 80.0% in Model 3) and task cohesion (normalised importance 78.6% in Model 2) were the most important predictors in the study area. These results point to the importance of the elements of group dynamics when it comes to explaining the nature of hair cortisol as accumulated stress biomarkers in young men.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rasa Smaliukienė
- General Jonas Zemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania, Silo 5a, LT-10322 Vilnius, Lithuania; (S.B.); (R.V.)
- Department of Creative Communication, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Saulėtekio al. 11, LT-10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
- Correspondence:
| | - Svajone Bekesiene
- General Jonas Zemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania, Silo 5a, LT-10322 Vilnius, Lithuania; (S.B.); (R.V.)
| | - Asta Mažeikienė
- Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M. K. Čiurlionio st. 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania; (A.M.); (G.L.); (D.K.); (E.M.)
| | - Gerry Larsson
- Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M. K. Čiurlionio st. 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania; (A.M.); (G.L.); (D.K.); (E.M.)
- Department of Security, Strategy and Leadership (ISSL), Swedish Defence University, Karlstad, Drottning Kristinas väg 37, 114 28 Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Public Health, Inland University College of Applied Sciences, Hamarvegen 112, 2406 Elverum, Norway
| | - Dovilė Karčiauskaitė
- Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M. K. Čiurlionio st. 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania; (A.M.); (G.L.); (D.K.); (E.M.)
| | - Eglė Mazgelytė
- Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, M. K. Čiurlionio st. 21, LT-03101 Vilnius, Lithuania; (A.M.); (G.L.); (D.K.); (E.M.)
| | - Ramutė Vaičaitienė
- General Jonas Zemaitis Military Academy of Lithuania, Silo 5a, LT-10322 Vilnius, Lithuania; (S.B.); (R.V.)
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Three-Faceted Approach to Perceived Stress: A Longitudinal Study of Stress Hormones, Personality, and Group Cohesion in the Real-Life Setting of Compulsory Basic Military Training. SUSTAINABILITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/su14031046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Compulsory basic military training is characterized not only by being challenging but also by being stressful. Assuming a high frequency of perceived stress events as a negative outcome of training, this article provides evidence on how the perceived frequency of stressful situations is affected by three types of factors: (i) biological stress response variables measured by hair steroid hormone levels, (ii) personality traits measured using the Big Five personality test, and (iii) group cohesion measures in military squads. A total of 112 conscripts in 11 squads participated in the research at the beginning (T1), in the middle (T2), and at the end (T3) of compulsory basic military training. Hair steroid hormone levels (cortisol, cortisone, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA)) levels were measured by liquid mass spectrometry; other data were collected using self-report questionnaires. The results of the Poisson regression analysis indicated that hair steroid hormone cortisol had a statistically significantly impact and could increase the perceived frequency of stressful situations by up to 1.317 (e0.275, T2) times. The concentrations of other hormones (cortisone = 1.157, e0.146, T3 and DHEA = 1.020, e0.020, T3) also had a statistically significant effect. Other factors had a decreasing effect on the frequency. Extraversion was significant with an effect of 0.907 (e−0.098, T2) and 0.847 (e−0.166, T3), while task cohesion had an effect of 0.946 (e−0.056) and norm cohesion of 0.954 (e−0.047). The research indicates that the three groups of factors affect the perceived frequency of stressful situations during compulsory basic military training, but their impacts are considerably different.
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