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Impact of Gender, Menstrual Cycle Phase, and Oral Contraceptives on the Activity of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis

From the Center for Psychobiological and Psychosomatic Research, University of Trier, Germany.

View larger version (31K): [in a new window]   Fig. 1. A, ACTH level; B, salivary-free cortisol level; C, total plasma cortisol level; and D, heart rate responses before and after psychosocial stress (TSST) in men, women in the luteal or follicular phase of the menstrual cycle, and oral contraceptive users. Values are mean ± SEM.

View larger version (19K): [in a new window]   Fig. 2. A, salivary-free and B, total plasma cortisol responses to an injection of 0.25 mg ACTH1–24.

View larger version (29K): [in a new window]   Fig. 3. Circadian saliva-free cortisol profiles obtained at 30-minute intervals between 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM. For better comparison, the insert shows the mean cortisol levels for two intervals with the largest differences among the four groups of subjects studied: 9:00 to 11:00 AM and 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM).