Is Hypercortisolism in Anorexia Nervosa Detectable Using Hair Samples?

December 2017 in “ Journal of Psychiatric Research ”

Franziska Ritschel, S. Clas, Daniel Geisler, Verena Haas, Maria Seidel, Julius Steding, Veit Roessner, Clemens Kirschbaum, Stefan Ehrlich

hypercortisolism anorexia nervosa hair cortisol concentration urine cortisol concentration cortisol hair follicles enzyme activity

Studysummary This study found that hair cortisol did not indicate expected hypercortisolism in acutely underweight anorexia nervosa patients and did not change significantly during short-term weight restoration.

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The study investigated whether hypercortisolism in acutely underweight anorexia nervosa (acAN) patients could be detected using hair cortisol concentration (HCC) compared to urine cortisol concentration (UCC). The study involved 40 acAN patients, 40 healthy controls, and 23 long-term recovered AN patients. Results showed no significant differences in HCC between acAN and healthy controls, and HCC did not change during weight restoration, unlike UCC, which decreased. There was no consistent association between HCC and UCC, suggesting that HCC did not reflect hypercortisolism in acAN. The findings indicated potential disturbances in cortisol incorporation or altered enzyme activity in hair follicles of acAN patients.

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