The effect of depressive symptomatology on plasma cortisol responses to acute bicycle exercise among post-menopausal women

The present study was designed to elucidate the effect of depressive sympto matology on the cortisol response to strenuous exercise. Thirteen healthy, post-menopausal women participated in this study. The results show that acu te bicycle exercise activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis resulting in rapid increases in plasma cortisol. Concerning the effect of depressive symptomatology on cortisol release during physical performance, we found a trend toward a negative relation between the level of depression and the change in cortisol measured after termination of the exercise, but it failed to reach statistical significance, probably due to the small sam ple size. Interestingly, we found a significant negative correlation betwee n basal cortisol levels and cortisol release to the exercise protocol. Alth ough this finding is preliminary, it seems to suggest that a sustained acti vation of the HPA axis may coincide with an adrenal insufficiency in respon se to physical performance of post-menopausal women. (C) 1999 Elsevier Scie nce Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.