Baseline Serum Total Cortisol During the Primary Corona Virus Infection in the Beginning of the Pandemic in Cameroon

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martine Claude Etoa Etoga ◽  
Astasselbe Hadja Inna ◽  
Magellan Guewo-Fokeng ◽  
Mesmin Dehayem ◽  
Anne Ongmeb Boli ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction: Improvement of critically ill patients Covid 19 positive placed on glucocorticoids may suggest impairment of the adrenal function. Our objective was to evaluate baseline serum cortisol in covid+ patients.Methods: This was a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study conducted in a population of patients infected with 2019-nCoV in Cameroon. Patients receiving corticosteroids irrespective of the route of administration within 3 months prior to recruitment and those with any hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis disease were excluded. We reviewed the medical records of patients to collect socio-demographic and clinical data. Patients were then sampled at 8 am for serum cortisol assay by the competitive ELISA method. Statistical analyses were performed using the Student's test to compare means. The significance level was set at p<0.05. Results: We included 80 covid+ patients, predominantly males (45, 56.3%) with a mean age of 43±13 years. The co-morbidities found were hypertension (9, 11.3%), diabetes mellitus (7, 8.8%), cardiovascular disease (8, 10%) and obesity (4, 5%). The most common symptoms were asthenia (44, 55%), fever (36, 45%) and respiratory symptoms (75, 93.7%). The non-severe form was the most common (70, 87.5%). Only 12.5% (10) of patients received oxygen therapy within our study. The mean baseline serum cortisol in the series was 279.55 nmol/l±128.68 (min 96.1332 nmol/l; max 665.0521 nmol/l). Sixty-nine patients (86.3%) had baseline cortisol ≤413.79nmol/l, suggesting an insufficient response to stress. No statistically significant association was found between serum cortisol and disease severity.Conclusion: The absence of a marked rise of cortisol during COVID-19 suggests possible involvement of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in this infection.

Author(s):  
Tejas Kalaria ◽  
Mayuri Agarwal ◽  
Sukhbir Kaur ◽  
Lauren Hughes ◽  
Hayley Sharrod-Cole ◽  
...  

Background The 0.25 mg short synacthen test is used to assess recovery from hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal suppression due to chronic glucocorticoid administration. We assessed the potential role of salivary cortisol and cortisone in predicting hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal function using the short synacthen test as the gold standard test. Method Between 09:00 and 10:30, salivary and blood samples were collected just prior to a short synacthen test to assess hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis recovery in patients previously treated with oral glucocorticoids. The cut-off for a normal short synacthen test was a 30-min cortisol ≥450 nmol/L. Results Fifty-six short synacthen tests were performed on 47 patients. Of these, 15 were normal. The area under receiver operating characteristic curves for serum cortisol, salivary cortisone and salivary cortisol were 0.772, 0.785 and 0.770, respectively. From the receiver operating characteristic analysis, the cut-offs for baseline serum cortisol (≥365 nmol/L) and salivary cortisone (≥37.2 nmol) predicted hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis recovery with 100% specificity in 26.7% of pass short synacthen tests, whereas salivary cortisol predicted none. Baseline serum cortisol (≤170 nmol/L), salivary cortisone (≤9.42 nmol/L) and salivary cortisol (≤1.92 nmol/L) predicted hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal suppression with 100% sensitivity in 58.5%, 53.7% and 51.2% of failed short synacthen tests, respectively. Using these cut-offs, baseline serum cortisol, salivary cortisone and salivary cortisol could reduce the need for short synacthen tests by 50%, 46% and 37%, respectively. Conclusion Although marginally inferior to early morning serum cortisol, early morning salivary cortisone may be used as a first-line test for assessing hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal function. We plan to incorporate salivary cortisone into a home-based patient pathway to identify patients with hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal recovery, continuing hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal suppression and those who require a short synacthen test.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 452-455
Author(s):  
Gregory A. Hollman ◽  
David B. Allen

Inhaled corticosteroids have become an important therapeutic option in the treatment of childhood asthma. The preparations currently available for pediatric use (beclomethasone dipropionate and triamcinolone acetonide) do not, in general, cause significant hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression and physical signs of glucocorticoid excess have not been described with their use. We report an 8-year-old girl with asthma in whom obesity, hirsutism, and growth retardation developed during treatment with inhaled triamcinolone acetonide alone. Laboratory studies showed suppression of endogenous cortisol production but did not demonstrate suppression of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Cessation of inhaled triamcinolone acetonide therapy resulted in resolution of obesity and hirsutism, resumption of normal growth, and a return to normal of serum cortisol levels and urinary 17-hydroxycorticosteroid excretion. Careful monitoring of growth velocity and (if clinically indicated) morning serum cortisol levels in asthmatic children using inhaled corticorsteroids will detect the rare instance of glucocorticoid excess resulting from systemic absorption of these drugs.


2010 ◽  
Vol 163 (6) ◽  
pp. 925-935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Eller-Vainicher ◽  
Valentina Morelli ◽  
Antonio Stefano Salcuni ◽  
Claudia Battista ◽  
Massimo Torlontano ◽  
...  

ContextIt is unknown whether the metabolic effects of the removal of an adrenal incidentaloma (AI) can be predicted by the assessment of cortisol hypersecretion before surgery.ObjectiveTo evaluate the accuracy of several criteria of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activity in predicting the metabolic outcome after adrenalectomy.DesignRetrospective longitudinal study.PatientsIn 55 surgically treated AI patients (Group 1) before surgery and in 53 nontreated AI patients (Group 2) at the baseline, urinary free cortisol (UFC), cortisol after 1 mg overnight dexamethasone-suppression test (1 mg-DST), ACTH, and midnight serum cortisol (MSC) were measured. In Groups 1 and 2, metabolic parameters were evaluated before and 29.6±13.8 months after surgery and at the baseline and after 35.2±10.9 months respectively.Main outcome measuresThe improvement/worsening of weight, blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol levels (endpoints) was defined by the presence of a >5% weight decrease/increase and following the European Society of Cardiology or the ATP III criteria respectively. The accuracy of UFC, 1 mg-DST, ACTH, and MSC, singularly taken or in combination, in predicting the improvement/worsening of ≥2 endpoints was calculated.ResultsThe presence of ≥2 among UFC>70 μg/24 h (193 nmol/l), ACTH<10 pg/ml (2.2 pmol/l), 1 mg-DST>3.0 μg/dl (83 nmol/l) (UFC–ACTH–DST criterion) had the best accuracy in predicting the endpoints' improvement (sensitivity (SN) 65.2%, specificity (SP) 68.8%) after surgery. In the nontreated AI patients, this criterion predicted the worsening of ≥2 endpoints (SN 55.6%, SP 82.9%).ConclusionsThe UFC–ACTH–DST criterion seems to be the best for predicting the metabolic outcome in surgically treated AI patients.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-64
Author(s):  
David E. Goldstein ◽  
Peter König

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis was investigated in 15 asthmatic children treated with inhaled beclomethasone dipropionate (mean 490 µg/day) and 11 asthmatic control subjects receiving no corticosteroid therapy. Measurements of 24-h urinary free cortisol and 17 hydroxy corticosteroids, serum cortisol, response to ACTH, and the oral metyrapone test showed no significant difference between the two groups. All the patients' results were within normal limits, and carbohydrate metabolism, as shown by blood glucose and hemoglobin A1c, was not affected by beclomethasone therapy. Thus, in the above dose, inhaled beclomethasone does not cause suppression of the hypothalamic--pituitary-adrenal axis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana César da Silveira ◽  
Álvaro Jorge Madeiro Leite ◽  
Poliana Coelho Cabral ◽  
Ariclécio Cunha de Oliveira ◽  
Keciany Alves de Oliveira ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Living in a shelter is an adverse experience that generates toxic stress. This situation can cause the dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and exert a negative impact on health.The aim of the present study was to determine the association between toxic stress and social, clinical and nutritional characteristics in children at welfare institutions in a city of northeastern of Brazil. Methods An analytical, cross-sectional study was conducted with male and female children up to 60 months of age who live in shelters. Hair cortisol was used for the assessment of stress (immunoassay). The anthropometric data collected were height for age, body mass index for age, arm circumference for age, and head circumference for age (expressed in z-scores). We also evaluated food intake using markers proposed by the Brazilian Dietary and Nutritional Vigilance Surveillance System as well as the occurrence of dental caries and anemia. Results Sixty-three children one to 60 months of age participated in the present study. Asthma was the most frequent disease (11.1%). The prevalence of short stature, anemia and dental caries in the sample was 22.2, 22.2 and 9.4%, respectively. Cortisol levels ranged from 0.93 pg/mg to 391.29 pg/mg (median: 6.17 pg/mg). Higher cortisol levels were found in children with illnesses (p = 0.012) and those who had been hospitalized after being admitted to the institutions (p = 0.001). Conclusions The majority of children had unhealthy eating behavior. The cortisol concentrations found in the present study were suggestive of dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Hypercortisolism was associated with illness and hospitalization.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document