Association of adult height and leg length with fasting plasma cortisol concentrations: evidence for an effect of normal variation in adrenocortical activity on growth
Association of adult height and leg length with fasting plasma cortisol concentrations: evidence for an effect of normal variation in adrenocortical activity on growth
We have evaluated the relationship between activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and adult height in adults recruited from the UK Hertfordshire Cohort Study. In a sample of 1,354 individuals, we found that height fell by 0.67 cm (95% CI 0.34-1.0) per SD (114 nmol/l) increase in fasting plasma cortisol concentrations. The association was continuous across the range of cortisol concentrations and was independent of the levels of corticosteroid binding globulin. It was of similar magnitude in men and women. In a subsample of the study available data on standing and sitting height was used to estimate trunk and leg length. Fasting plasma cortisol concentrations were found to have a much greater impact on leg length than trunk length. These findings suggest that physiological variations in adrenocortical glucocorticoid secretion in humans affect adult height. They also raise the possibility that the HPA axis may be involved in mediating resource allocation decisions and trade-offs during development perhaps by limiting physical growth to enable other competing processes.
712-715
Phillips, D.I.W.
29b73be7-2ff9-4fff-ae42-d59842df4cc6
Syddall, Holly E.
a0181a93-8fc3-4998-a996-7963f0128328
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Hanson, Mark A.
1952fad1-abc7-4284-a0bc-a7eb31f70a3f
November 2008
Phillips, D.I.W.
29b73be7-2ff9-4fff-ae42-d59842df4cc6
Syddall, Holly E.
a0181a93-8fc3-4998-a996-7963f0128328
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Hanson, Mark A.
1952fad1-abc7-4284-a0bc-a7eb31f70a3f
Phillips, D.I.W., Syddall, Holly E., Cooper, Cyrus and Hanson, Mark A.
(2008)
Association of adult height and leg length with fasting plasma cortisol concentrations: evidence for an effect of normal variation in adrenocortical activity on growth.
American Journal of Human Biology, 20 (6), .
(doi:10.1002/ajhb.20803).
Abstract
We have evaluated the relationship between activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and adult height in adults recruited from the UK Hertfordshire Cohort Study. In a sample of 1,354 individuals, we found that height fell by 0.67 cm (95% CI 0.34-1.0) per SD (114 nmol/l) increase in fasting plasma cortisol concentrations. The association was continuous across the range of cortisol concentrations and was independent of the levels of corticosteroid binding globulin. It was of similar magnitude in men and women. In a subsample of the study available data on standing and sitting height was used to estimate trunk and leg length. Fasting plasma cortisol concentrations were found to have a much greater impact on leg length than trunk length. These findings suggest that physiological variations in adrenocortical glucocorticoid secretion in humans affect adult height. They also raise the possibility that the HPA axis may be involved in mediating resource allocation decisions and trade-offs during development perhaps by limiting physical growth to enable other competing processes.
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Published date: November 2008
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Local EPrints ID: 72452
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/72452
ISSN: 1042-0533
PURE UUID: 4a77864e-b4fd-400e-8c9b-dcd27f8d6377
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Date deposited: 15 Feb 2010
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 02:52
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D.I.W. Phillips
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