Perceived Stress, Hair Cortisol and Hair Cortisone in Relation to Appetite-Regulating Hormones in Patients with Obesity.

Introduction: Stress predicts unhealthy eating, obesity, and metabolic deterioration, likely mediated by altered levels of appetite- and metabolism-regulating hormones. Yet, evidence regarding the association between long-term stress and levels of appetite-regulating hormones in humans is lacking.

Methods: We included 65 patients with obesity (44 women) to investigate the cross-sectional association of biological stress (scalp hair cortisol and cortisone) and psychological stress (Perceived Stress Scale) with overnight-fasted serum levels of the hormonal appetite regulators leptin, adiponectin, insulin, pancreatic polypeptide, gastric-inhibitory peptide, peptide tyrosine-tyrosine, cholecystokinin and agouti-related protein, adjusted for age, sex and body-mass-index.

Results: Hair cortisone and, in trend, hair cortisol were positively associated with cholecystokinin (p=0.003 and p=0.058, respectively). No other associations between stress measures and hormonal appetite regulators were observed.

Conclusion: Long-term biological stress, measured using scalp hair glucocorticoid levels, is associated with elevated levels of circulating cholecystokinin, indicating a link between long-term stress and hormonal appetite signaling.