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Joint growth hormone and cortisol spontaneous secretion is more asynchronous in older females than in their male counterparts

Joint growth hormone and cortisol spontaneous secretion is more asynchronous in older females than in their male counterparts
Joint growth hormone and cortisol spontaneous secretion is more asynchronous in older females than in their male counterparts
In humans, cortisol and GH are secreted in a pulsatile manner, and an interaction between GH and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis has been established. In view of the sexually dimorphic pattern in GH secretion, we investigated the GH-cortisol bihormonal secretory dynamics in male and female healthy older individuals. We studied the GH and cortisol secretory patterns in 83 healthy subjects (45 men and 38 women; age range, 59.4–73.0 yr) by determining serum GH and cortisol concentrations at 20-min intervals for 24 h. The irregularity of GH and cortisol secretion was assessed using approximate entropy (ApEn), a scale- and model-independent statistic. The synchrony of joint GH-cortisol spontaneous secretion was quantified using the cross-ApEn statistic. Cross-correlation analysis of GH and cortisol patterns was computed at various time lags covering the 24-h period.
Mean 24-h serum GH concentrations were significantly higher in females (mean, 1.31 mU/L; SD, 0.87) than in males (mean, 0.88 mU/L; SD, 0.42; P = 0.009), whereas mean 24-h serum total cortisol concentrations were higher in males (mean, 9.0 µg/dL; SD, 1.4) than in females (mean, 7.3 µg/dL; SD, 1.4; P = 0.0001). GH secretion was more irregular in females (mean ApEn, 0.81; SD, 0.23) than in males (mean ApEn, 0.60; SD, 0.20; P < 0.001). No significant difference in the regularity of cortisol secretion was noted between sexes. Cross-ApEn values of paired GH-cortisol were higher in females (mean, 1.15; SD, 0.18) than in males (mean, 1.01; SD, 0.16; P = 0.0003). Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis indicated that estradiol and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 concentrations were independently related to GH ApEn values (r2 = 0.14; P = 0.01), whereas cross-ApEn values of paired GH-cortisol were best predicted by FSH concentrations (r2 = 0.37; P = 0.003). Cross-correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between GH and cortisol, peaking at lag time of 4.7 h in males (r = 0.30; P < 0.0001) and 4.3 h in females (r = 0.14; P < 0.0001), with GH leading cortisol by these time intervals. In addition, a significant negative correlation between the two hormones was noted over time, peaking at 4.7 h in males (r = -0.21; P < 0.0001) and 6.3 h in females (r = -0.25; P < 0.0001), with cortisol leading GH by these time intervals.
The above results indicate that in the elderly, females have a more disordered GH secretory pattern and a more asynchronous joint GH-cortisol secretion than their male counterparts. These observations most likely reflect bidirectional interactions between the GH and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in humans as well as diminution of subsystem integrity and synchronous control of interconnected hormonal systems with advancing age.
0021-972X
3393-3399
Charmandari, Evangelia
06fbd684-9f75-444e-a849-9fc1b6eef593
Pincus, Steven M.
e1e2d2b5-74e8-4489-85ea-97d0b09fef7e
Matthews, David R.
afd45b7b-6d01-4e6d-8673-c665aee7069c
Dennison, Elaine M.
ee647287-edb4-4392-8361-e59fd505b1d1
Fall, Caroline H.
7171a105-34f5-4131-89d7-1aa639893b18
Hindmarsh, Peter C.
132a86fd-5d29-4dc2-a01b-ffa1a5665746
Charmandari, Evangelia
06fbd684-9f75-444e-a849-9fc1b6eef593
Pincus, Steven M.
e1e2d2b5-74e8-4489-85ea-97d0b09fef7e
Matthews, David R.
afd45b7b-6d01-4e6d-8673-c665aee7069c
Dennison, Elaine M.
ee647287-edb4-4392-8361-e59fd505b1d1
Fall, Caroline H.
7171a105-34f5-4131-89d7-1aa639893b18
Hindmarsh, Peter C.
132a86fd-5d29-4dc2-a01b-ffa1a5665746

Charmandari, Evangelia, Pincus, Steven M., Matthews, David R., Dennison, Elaine M., Fall, Caroline H. and Hindmarsh, Peter C. (2001) Joint growth hormone and cortisol spontaneous secretion is more asynchronous in older females than in their male counterparts. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 86 (7), 3393-3399.

Record type: Article

Abstract

In humans, cortisol and GH are secreted in a pulsatile manner, and an interaction between GH and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis has been established. In view of the sexually dimorphic pattern in GH secretion, we investigated the GH-cortisol bihormonal secretory dynamics in male and female healthy older individuals. We studied the GH and cortisol secretory patterns in 83 healthy subjects (45 men and 38 women; age range, 59.4–73.0 yr) by determining serum GH and cortisol concentrations at 20-min intervals for 24 h. The irregularity of GH and cortisol secretion was assessed using approximate entropy (ApEn), a scale- and model-independent statistic. The synchrony of joint GH-cortisol spontaneous secretion was quantified using the cross-ApEn statistic. Cross-correlation analysis of GH and cortisol patterns was computed at various time lags covering the 24-h period.
Mean 24-h serum GH concentrations were significantly higher in females (mean, 1.31 mU/L; SD, 0.87) than in males (mean, 0.88 mU/L; SD, 0.42; P = 0.009), whereas mean 24-h serum total cortisol concentrations were higher in males (mean, 9.0 µg/dL; SD, 1.4) than in females (mean, 7.3 µg/dL; SD, 1.4; P = 0.0001). GH secretion was more irregular in females (mean ApEn, 0.81; SD, 0.23) than in males (mean ApEn, 0.60; SD, 0.20; P < 0.001). No significant difference in the regularity of cortisol secretion was noted between sexes. Cross-ApEn values of paired GH-cortisol were higher in females (mean, 1.15; SD, 0.18) than in males (mean, 1.01; SD, 0.16; P = 0.0003). Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis indicated that estradiol and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 concentrations were independently related to GH ApEn values (r2 = 0.14; P = 0.01), whereas cross-ApEn values of paired GH-cortisol were best predicted by FSH concentrations (r2 = 0.37; P = 0.003). Cross-correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between GH and cortisol, peaking at lag time of 4.7 h in males (r = 0.30; P < 0.0001) and 4.3 h in females (r = 0.14; P < 0.0001), with GH leading cortisol by these time intervals. In addition, a significant negative correlation between the two hormones was noted over time, peaking at 4.7 h in males (r = -0.21; P < 0.0001) and 6.3 h in females (r = -0.25; P < 0.0001), with cortisol leading GH by these time intervals.
The above results indicate that in the elderly, females have a more disordered GH secretory pattern and a more asynchronous joint GH-cortisol secretion than their male counterparts. These observations most likely reflect bidirectional interactions between the GH and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in humans as well as diminution of subsystem integrity and synchronous control of interconnected hormonal systems with advancing age.

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Published date: 2001

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 25362
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/25362
ISSN: 0021-972X
PURE UUID: 2d46823f-d2d6-4a55-9e5e-6ef0ee96a69b
ORCID for Elaine M. Dennison: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3048-4961
ORCID for Caroline H. Fall: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-4402-5552

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Date deposited: 12 Apr 2006
Last modified: 09 Jan 2022 02:50

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Contributors

Author: Evangelia Charmandari
Author: Steven M. Pincus
Author: David R. Matthews
Author: Peter C. Hindmarsh

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