Cortisol levels differ after the low dose dexamethasone-suppression test in outpatients and inpatients with stress related disorders as compared to healthy subjects

Rational/statement of the problem : The low-dose dexamethasone-suppression test (DST) has originally been introduced by Yehuda et al.. Method : We here report data on the salivary cortisol responses to awakening (CAR) to the DST in healthy subjects (N=102), as well as in outpatients (N=92) and inpatients (N=99) with stress related disorders. Patient groups were matched for age and sex by propensity score matching. Stress pathology was assessed by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ). Results : We observed stepwise highly significant differences among these three populations with respect to both supersuppression (< 2 nmol/l) and escape (> 6 nmol/l) of cortisol levels. Amazingly, a supersuppression was most frequently observed in healthy subjects, while an escape was most prevalent in inpatients, less common in outpatients, and rare in healthy subjects. While none of the healthy subjects got a PHQ diagnosis, inpatients and outpatients showed an average of 1.8 and 1.9 diagnoses, respectively, but did not differ with respect to the type and degree of stress pathology. Thus, the DST may rather be considered an unspecific test of dysregulations of the pituitary–adrenal axis. Conclusion : Many research studies observed a supersuppression of cortisol levels in hypocortisolemic subjects with stress related disorders, such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), fibromyalgia, chronic pelvic pain. These subjects commonly express symptoms of fatigue, pain, and an enhanced stress sensitivity, but seem to be protected against deleterious effects of cortisol on organ functions. Such a protective effect may possibly explain our observation that hypocortisolemia and supersuppression are less common in inpatients and outpatients. However, the increasing number of escapes from healthy subjects to outpatients and inpatients was not unexpected. We discuss these findings by applying an additional analysis of endophenotypes

Evaluation of Dexterity in Insulin-Treated Patients with Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

BACKGROUND: Daily routine for insulin-treated patients with diabetes mellitus requires correct performance of self-monitoring of blood glucose and insulin injections several times a day. Dexterity skills may play an important role in the performance efficacy of these procedures. METHODS: We collected data of insulin-treated (>10 years) patients with different age ranges [healthy controls, 14 female/11 male, age (mean ± standard deviation) 55 ± 7 years; type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients, 12/13, 45 ± 9 years, disease duration 23.9 ± 6.5 years; T2DM patients, 8/17, 64 ± 6 years, 16.2 ± 6.9 years; T2DM patients (>70 years of age), 9/16, 75 ± 4 years, 19.7 ± 7.0 years]. After assessment of neuropathy (temperature, pain, and vibration perception), the patients participated in two dexterity test batteries [Jebsen–Taylor hand-function test (JHFT) and motoric performance series (MPS)]. RESULTS: Patients with type 2 diabetes showed disturbed vibration perception as compared to the other groups. The dexterity results were influenced by age to a large extent. Older T2DM patients performed worst in the majority of the subtests (e.g., JHFT, writing nondominant hand: control, 40.8 ± 11.7 s; T1DM, 46.3 ± 50.9 s, not significant versus control; old T2DM, 68.1 ± 29.5 s, p < .05; young T2DM, 52.5 ± 26.2 s, p < .05). Patients with type 1 diabetes showed similar JHFT and MPS results than the 10-year-older control subjects and performed outside of the age-dependent normal reference range. CONCLUSIONS: Manual skills and dexterity differed between the groups, and age-corrected reduced skills were common in both T1DM and T2DM patients in this study. Our findings underline the importance of considering dexterity and manual skills when designing medical devices for patients with diabetes mellitus