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. 2019 Jun 3;9(1):8213.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-44693-3.

Hair Cortisol Measurement by an Automated Method

Diego Gonzalez  1   2 , Dario Jacobsen  1 , Carolina Ibar  1 , Carlos Pavan  3 , José Monti  3 , Nahuel Fernandez Machulsky  1   2 , Ayelen Balbi  1 , Analy Fritzler  1 , Juan Jamardo  1 , Esteban M Repetto  1   4 , Gabriela Berg  1   2   4 , Bibiana Fabre  5   6
Affiliations

Hair Cortisol Measurement by an Automated Method

Diego Gonzalez et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

We present the development of the first procedure for hair cortisol measurement through an automated method. Hair samples were obtained from 286 individuals. After cortisol extraction, samples were measured in a Siemens Immulite 2000 (Gwynedd, UK) automated chemoluminiscent immunoassay analyzer. Normal reference values were obtained from hair cortisol levels measured in 213 healthy individuals with low levels of stress. Hair cortisol concentration median was 55 pg/mg hair (2.5-97.5 percentile (40-128)) in healthy individuals with low levels of stress and 250 pg/mg hair (range 182-520) in stressed individuals. No significant differences were observed in hair cortisol levels between subjects with and without dye (40 (40-107) and 40 (40-155) pg/mg hair, respectively; p = 0.128). The novel procedure presented here shows an adequate analytical performance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Stability assay of the reconstituted hair extract at 4 °C and −20 °C. (A) Stability in two concentrations (Level 1: 163 and Level 2: 263 pg/mg hair) at 4 °C (F = 1.72, p = 0.306 and F = 1.22, p = 0.436, respectively). (B) Stability in two concentrations (163 and 263 pg/mg hair) at −20 °C (F = 0.60, p = 0.68 and F = 2.34, p = 0.21, respectively).
Figure 2
Figure 2
MS/MS spectra for the (M + 1H)+1 ion at m/z 363. (A) Cortisol reference material; (B) sample matching cortisol characteristic profile; (C) sample with incomplete match to the cortisol profile and therefore considered “Negative”. (D) Sample that clearly does not match the cortisol profile.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Hair cortisol concentration in stressed and individuals with low levels of stress. Hair cortisol levels in healthy individuals with low levels of stress (40–128 pg/mg; n = 213) and in stressed individuals (182–520 pg/mg; n = 19); p < 0.05.
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