Morning cortisol is lower in obese individuals with normal glucose tolerance

Figures & data

Table 1 Plasma ACTH and cortisol levels in normal-weight and overweight subjects in different fasting glucose categories

	Glucose 0 min ≤80 mg/dL	Glucose 0 min 80.1–90 mg/dL	Glucose 0 min 90.1–100 mg/dL	Glucose 0 min 100.1–125 mg/dL	P value
					Unadjusted	Adjusted for age, gender
Normal weight
n	73	176	97	12	–	–
Age (years)	21.9 ± 7.8	24.9 ± 8.0	25.9 ± 9.7	31.3 ± 10.1	0.001	–
BMI (kg/m^2)	20.1 ± 3.2	20.6 ± 3.1	20.6 ± 2.8	22.7 ± 2.0	0.04	0.500
ACTH (pg/mL)	20.0 ± 15.5	24.5 ± 19.6	33.8 ± 26	31.0 ± 21	<0.001	0.003
Cortisol (ng/mL)	10.9 ± 4.4	11.3 ± 4.9	12.0 ± 5.0	14.9 ± 4.7	0.050	0.163
Overweight/obese
n	26	55	39	17	–
Age (years)	26.2 ± 10	31.7 ± 11	30.3 ± 11	32.2 ± 11	0.20	–
BMI (kg/m^2)	28.1 ± 2.6	28.7 ± 3.3	29.9 ± 5.0	29.6 ± 4.3	0.30	–
ACTH (pg/mL)	16.6 ± 15	19.0 ± 19	24.3 ± 18	23.1 ± 13	0.14	0.32
Cortisol (ng/mL)	10.1 ± 4.5	10.4 ± 4.6	10.7 ± 5.0	10.9 ± 4.9	0.80	0.79
Overall
n	99	231	136	29	–
Age (years)	23.0 ± 8.7	26.6 ± 9.6	27 ± 10.3	31.9 ± 10.7	<0.001	–
BMI (kg/m^2)	22.2 ± 4.7	22.6 ± 4.7	23.4 ± 5.5	26.8 ± 4.9	<0.001	–
ACTH (pg/mL)	19.1 ± 15	23.2 ± 20	31.1 ± 24.5	26.3 ± 17	<0.001	0.001
Cortisol (ng/mL)	10.7 ± 4.4	11.1 ± 4.8	11.6 ± 5.1	12.6 ± 5.2	0.236	0.434

Abbreviations: ACTH, adrenocorticotropic hormone; BMI, body mass index.

Table 2 Plasma ACTH and cortisol levels in subjects with and without MS in positive and negative family history of T2DM categories

	Subjects with family history of T2DM			Subjects without family history of T2DM
	MS	No MS	P value	MS	No MS	P value
n	50	228	–	27	190	–
Males (%)	27 (54)	133 (58)	0.575	19 (70)	126 (66)	0.675
Age	35.2 ± 10.5	21.8 ± 8.6	<0.001	34.2 ± 8.2	28.3 ± 8.5	0.001
BMI	28.9 ± 4.37	22.4 ± 5.3	<0.001	25.4 ± 2.4	21.6 ± 3.5	<0.001
ACTHa	19.7 ± 13.9	23.7 ± 20	0.211	29.0 ± 23	26.5 ± 22.2	0.840
Cortisola	9.6 ± 4.2	11.1 ± 4.8	0.045	11.3 ± 4.8	11.8 ± 5.0	0.423

a Note: Data adjusted for age and gender.

Abbreviations: ACTH, adrenocorticotropic hormone; BMI, body mass index; MS, metabolic syndrome; T2DM, type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Table 3 Correlation of morning cortisol with metabolic syndrome-related risk factors in males and females

	Males n = 305				Females n = 190
	Adjusted for age		Adjusted for age and BMI		Adjusted for age		Adjusted for age and BMI
	r value	P value	r value	P value	r value	P value	r value	P value
WC (cm)	−0.12	0.03*			−0.05	0.46
Waist to hip ratio	−0.07	0.2	0.02	0.76	−0.06	0.25	−0.06	0.38
Fasting insulin (μIU/mL)	−0.139	0.015*	−0.04	0.45	−0.02	0.81	−0.01	0.84
Fasting glucose (mg/dL)	−0.003	0.95	0.02	0.71	0.15	0.04*	0.15	0.03*
HOMA-IR (μU/mL, mmol/l)	−0.133	0.02*	−0.04	0.50	0.01	0.94	0.01	0.83
IGI 30 (nmol/mmol)	−0.198	0.001	−0.156	0.009*	0.02	0.78	0.02	0.78
TG (mg/dL)	0.061	0.29	0.11	0.06	−0.01	0.84	−0.01	0.86
Total cholesterol (mg/dL)	0.054	0.35	0.09	0.09	0.10	0.15	0.10	0.14
HDL-cholesterol (mg/dL)	0.149	0.01*	0.12	0.04*	0.09	0.19	0.10	0.17
LDL-cholesterol (mg/dL)	−0.012	0.82	0.02	0.71	0.09	0.21	0.09	0.21
Systolic BP (mmHg)	−0.04	0.52	0.01	0.76	0.15	0.05*	0.15	0.04*
Diastolic BP (mmHg)	−0.04	0.52	0.02	0.66	0.12	0.11	0.12	0.11

* Note: Significant P < 0.05.

Abbreviations: ACTH, adrenocorticotropic hormone; BMI, body mass index; BP, blood pressure; HOMA-IR, homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance; IGI 30, insulinogenic index (0−30); HDL-cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; MS, metabolic syndrome; T2DM, type 2 diabetes mellitus; TG, triglycerides; WC, waist circumference.