non artificial light and stress hormones

Zaphod Thu Jun 20, 2019 12:02 am

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306453016301895

Highlights

• Hair glucocorticoids (cortisol and cortisone) are used to evaluate long-term HPA axis activity in relation to somatic and psychological health.
• Hair glucocorticoids gradually decrease along the hair shaft: ‘wash-out’.
• We hypothesized that wash-out of hair glucocorticoids may in part be caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation present in natural sunlight.
• In our study, hair cortisol and cortisone decreased after exposure to a high amount of artificial UV, but also after 40 hours of natural sunlight.
• Sunlight exposure should be considered as a potential confounder in studies investigating hair glucocorticoids.