ICEECE2012 Poster Presentations Adrenal cortex (113 abstracts)
Measurement of cortisol in scalp hair can be a new tool in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with Addison’s Disease and (cyclic) Cushing’s Syndrome
L. Manenschijn 1 , J. Koper 1 , E. van den Akker 1 , L. de Heide 2 , F. de Jong 1 , R. Feelders 1 , S. Lamberts 1 & E. van Rossum 1
1Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; 2Medical Center Leeuwarden, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.
Introduction: The diagnosis of Cushing’s Syndrome (CS) and in particular cyclic CS can be complicated. Standard screening tests for CS are the measurement of cortisol in 24-hours urine collections and in midnight saliva. In case of cyclic CS, results of these tests can be normal in between periods of hypercortisolism. The development of a method to measure cortisol in scalp hair provides the opportunity to investigate historical cortisol levels of months to years ago, with each cm of hair corresponding to a period of one month. This method has been well validated in healthy individuals and might contribute enormously in the diagnosis and follow up of patients with (cyclic) CS. Furthermore, in patients with Addison’s Disease (AD), the measurement of historical cortisol levels could provide useful information concerning the disease course and effect of hydrocortisone replacement therapy. Our aim was to study whether hair cortisol levels correspond with clinical course in patients with (cyclic) CS and AD.
Methods: Hair samples were collected from 16 CS patients, 5 cyclic CS patients and 3 AD patients. Cortisol was extracted from these samples with methanol and cortisol levels were measured using an ELISA. A group of 195 healthy individuals were used as control group.
Results: Cortisol levels were significantly elevated in CS patients (P<0.0001) and decreased in patients with AD (P=0.002) compared to healthy individuals. Hair cortisol timelines of patients with CS, cyclic CS and AD corresponded with clinical course.
Conclusion: Scalp hair can be used to evaluate the clinical course in patients with CS and AD and provides valuable information about previous cortisol exposure. This can contribute significantly in the diagnosis of cyclic CS.
Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.
Funding: This work was supported, however funding details unavailable.
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Endocrine Abstracts
ISSN 1470-3947 (print) | ISSN 1479-6848 (online)
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