Work

Cortisol Variability and Inflammation Across Adulthood and Aging

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: Links between diurnal cortisol and health have primarily examined individuals’ average cortisol levels and slopes. However, individuals differ in the extent to which they deviate from their typical diurnal trajectory, and older adults may be particularly prone to greater within-person and within-day cortisol variability. To model individuals’ typical cortisol trajectories, a multilevel linear spline model was fit to repeated measures of salivary cortisol (4 samples of salivary cortisol on 4 consecutive days, total of 13,861 samples) obtained from N = 922 individuals aged 33–84 years. Summary measures of residual variability then indicated the extent to which each individuals’ cortisol fluctuated (i.e., cortisol variability) around his/her typical diurnal trajectory. Regression indicated cortisol variability differs by age, and cortisol variability is associated with inflammation. Cortisol variability is discussed as a novel marker of HPA dysregulation particularly relevant to older adults. Discussion also highlights the usefulness of sampling biological aging at multiple time-scales.

Source: Innovation in Aging

DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igy023.1256

Authors: R Koffer, N Ram, D M Almeida

Institution: Pennsylvania State University

Language: English

Topic: Stress Responses and Cortisol

Subfield: Behavioral Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,977