The "yin and yang" of the adrenal and gonadal systems in elite military men.
Stress
; 20(3): 258-264, 2017 05.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28629254
ABSTRACT
We recently established daily, free-living profiles of the adrenal hormone cortisol, the (primarily adrenal) anabolic precursor dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and the (primarily gonadal) anabolic hormone testosterone in elite military men. A prevailing view is that adrenal and gonadal systems reciprocally modulate each other; however, recent paradigm shifts prompted the characterization of these systems as parallel, cooperative processes (i.e. the "positive coupling" hypothesis). In this study, we tested the positive coupling hypothesis in 57 elite military men by evaluating associations between adrenal and gonadal biomarkers across the day. Salivary DHEA was moderately and positively coupled with salivary cortisol, as was salivary testosterone. Anabolic processes (i.e. salivary DHEA and testosterone) were also positively and reliably coupled across the day. In multivariate models, salivary DHEA and cortisol combined to account for substantial variance in salivary testosterone concentrations across the day, but this was driven almost exclusively by DHEA. This may reflect choreographed adrenal release of DHEA with testicular and/or adrenal release of testosterone, systemic conversion of DHEA to testosterone, or both. DHEA and testosterone modestly and less robustly predicted cortisol concentrations; this was confined to the morning, and testosterone was the primary predictor. Altogether, top-down co-activation of adrenal and gonadal hormone secretion may complement bottom-up counter-regulatory functions to foster anabolic balance and neuronal survival; hence, the "yin and yang" of adrenal and gonadal systems. This may be an adaptive process that is amplified by stress, competition, and/or dominance hierarchy.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Saliva
/
Testosterona
/
Hidrocortisona
/
Deshidroepiandrosterona
/
Personal Militar
Tipo de estudio:
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Adult
/
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Stress
Asunto de la revista:
NEUROLOGIA
Año:
2017
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos