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Cortisol and ACTH response to oral dexamethasone in obesity and effects of sex, body fat distribution, and dexamethasone concentrations: a dose-response study
Plain-language guide to PMID 11788642 (2002): randomized controlled trial of ACTH (Corticotropin) in 13 men.
Key Facts
- PMID
- 11788642
- Journal
- The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism
- Year
- 2002
- Study type
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Authors
- Pasquali R et al. (12 authors)
- DOI
- 10.1210/jcem.87.1.8158
What This Study Did, in Plain Language
What Was Tested
The paper reports a study of ACTH (Corticotropin), published as a randomized controlled trial.
Their hypothesis is that the lack of adequate cortisol suppression after the dexamethasone test may constitute an indirect marker of HPA axis hyperactivity in the presence of the abdominal obesity phenotype.
A total of 34 normal-weight (13 men and 21 women) and 87 obese (36 men and 51 women), healthy, nondepressed subjects therefore underwent four different dexamethasone suppression tests randomly performed at varying intervals of at least 1 wk between each test.
Who Took Part
The study group was 13 men.
The age groups tagged for this paper are teenagers, adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.
How the Study Was Run
The researchers set it up as a randomized study.
Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got ACTH (Corticotropin) and who got the comparison, which limits bias.
What Was Measured
Their hypothesis is that the lack of adequate cortisol suppression after the dexamethasone test may constitute an indirect marker of HPA axis hyperactivity in the presence of the abdominal obesity phenotype.
A total of 34 normal-weight (13 men and 21 women) and 87 obese (36 men and 51 women), healthy, nondepressed subjects therefore underwent four different dexamethasone suppression tests randomly performed at varying intervals of at least 1 wk between each test.
Topics PubMed links to this paper include Adipose Tissue, Adrenocorticotropic Hormone, Body Mass Index, Dexamethasone, Hydrocortisone, Obesity and Phenotype.
What This Means in Plain Language
The paper is a randomized study of ACTH (Corticotropin) in 13 men.
With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.
The publication is from 2002 (The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism), a journal based in United States.
More context: the ACTH (Corticotropin) compound page, all human trials.
Our Notes on the Compound
ACTH (Corticotropin): The 39-amino-acid pituitary hormone that drives cortisol production; given as repository corticotropin (Acthar Gel).
Related Pages
Source: PubMed record. This explanation is written by PeptideWhiz from the public record. For research and education only. Not medical advice; no dosing information is given.