Inappropriately normal plasma ACTH and cortisol concentrations in the face of increased circulating interleukin-6 concentration in exercise in patients with sarcoidosis

Figures & data

Table I.  Anthropometric variables of patients and healthy participants.

Variable	Untreated patients	Dexamethasone-treated patients	Healthy control participants
Gender (male, female)	12 M, 15 F	7 M, 10 F	9 M, 11 F
Age (years) ± SD	42 ± 2	46 ± 4	40 ± 5
BMI (kg/m^2) ± SD	27 ± 0.9	27.8 ± 3.5	28 ± 2.3

Figure 1.  Serum IL-6 (A), plasma ACTH (B), and plasma cortisol (C) concentrations (mean ± SE) at baseline, exercise peak, and recovery (15 min after exercise) in untreated sarcoidosis patients (n = 27), dexamethasone-treated sarcoidosis patients (n = 17), and healthy control participants (n = 20). ^*Statistically significant (one-factor repeated measures ANOVA, Fisher's post hoc test, p < 0.05) change from the respective within-group baseline concentrations. ^#,+Statistically significant (one-factor repeated measures ANOVA, Fisher's post hoc test p < 0.05) difference, respectively, from the dexamethasone-treated sarcoidosis patients and the healthy control participants groups, at the same time-point.

Figure 2.  Serum TNF (A) and serum IL-1β (B) concentrations (mean ± SE) at baseline, exercise peak, and recovery (15 min after exercise) in untreated sarcoidosis patients (n = 27), dexamethasone-treated sarcoidosis patients (n = 17), and healthy controls (n = 20). ^*Statistically significant (one-factor repeated measures ANOVA, Fisher's post hoc test, p < 0.05) change from the respective within-group baseline concentrations. ⁺Statistically significant (one-factor repeated measures ANOVA, Fisher's post hoc test, p < 0.05) difference from the healthy control participants group, at the same time-point.

Figure 3.  ACTH to IL-6 ratios (A) and cortisol to IL-6 ratios (B) at baseline, exercise peak, and recovery (15 min after exercise) in untreated sarcoidosis patients (n = 27) and healthy control participants (n = 20). Cortisol to IL-6 ratio should be divided by a 10³ factor to correct for the ratio of their respective units (ng/ml for cortisol; pg/ml for IL-6 and ACTH). ⁺Statistically significant (one-factor repeated measures ANOVA, Fisher's post hoc test, p < 0.05) difference from the healthy control participants group, at the same time-point.