Scalp hair cortisol and testosterone levels in patients with sarcoidosis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Patients with sarcoidosis often experience fatigue and psychological distress, but little is known about the etiology of these conditions. While serum and saliva steroid hormones are used to monitor acute steroid levels, scalp hair analysis is a relatively new method enabling measurement of long-term steroid levels, including hair cortisol reflecting chronic stress. We investigated whether scalp hair cortisol and testosterone levels differ between sarcoidosis patients both with and without fatigue and general population controls. Additionally, we studied if these hormones could serve as objective biomarkers for psychological distress in patients with sarcoidosis.

Methods

We measured hair steroid levels using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in glucoc

SUBMITTER: van Manen MJG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6568399 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature