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Spontaneous and Glucocorticoid-Inhibited Adrenocorticotropic Hormone and Cortisol Secretion are Similar in Healthy Young and Old Men^*

Endocrinology Section, Laboratory of Clinical Physiology, Gerontology Research Center, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health Bethesda, Maryland 20892
The Departments of Medicine, Francis Scott Key Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, Maryland 21224
Developmental Endocrinology Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health Bethesda, Maryland 20892

Address correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Marc R. Blackman, Gerontology Research Center, Room 2B15, 4940 Eastern Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21224.

We investigated the effects of age on pituitaryadrenocortical function in healthy young (21–38 yr, n = 11) vs. old (66–78 yr, n = 11) men by drawing frequent serial basal blood samples from 2000-0800 h for measurement of ACTH and cortisol, followed by an iv ovine CRH (oCRH) stimulation test. Subjects were readmitted at intervals and given increasing doses of oral dexamethasone (0.15,0.3, 0.6,1 mg) at midnight, followed by repeat blood sampling from 0400–0800 h and oCRH testing. We compared mean hormone levels for the entire 12-h and three component 4-h periods of the basal visit, and for each 4-h dexamethasone visit using the Mann-Whitney U test and repeated measures analysis of variance. Pulsatile secretion was characterized using the Pulsar computer program. Basal mean 12-h and 4-h ACTH and cortisol values did not differ with age (P > 0.1). Pulse analysis revealed no age change in the corresponding values for peak frequency, amplitude, or duration for either hormone examined. Increasing doses of dexamethasone produced progressive inhibition of mean ACTH and cortisol levels (P < 0.001) as well as decreased (P < 0.01) pulse frequency, amplitude, and duration with no age differences (P > 0.1). ACTH and cortisol responses to oCRH were progressively suppressed by increasing doses of dexamethasone (P < 0.02) and did not differ between age groups (P > 0.3) except for a slightly higher peak cortisol response (P = 0.05) in the older men at the 0.3 mg dexamethasone dose. We conclude that basal and oCRH-stimulated ACTH and cortisol secretion, as well as sensitivity of the ACTH-cortisol axis to glucocorticoid feedback suppression, are essentially unaltered with age in healthy men.

^* This work was supported in part by General Clinical Research Center Grant M01-RR-02719 from the Division of Research Resources, NIH.

Received December 7, 1990.

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