Racial Provocation Induces Cortisol Responses in African-Americans*

Ali A Weinstein,Joshua B Kazman,Patricia A Deuster,Angela Termini,Preetha Abraham,Stacey A Zeno

doi:10.4236/ojmp.2013.24023

Abstract

Purpose: To examine salivary cortisol responses to a racially-charged stimulus in a group of African-American individuals. Methods: A nonrandom sample of 245 (age: 43.8 ± 11.1 years; 64% female) African-American individuals was recruited by advertisements. Specifically, salivary cortisol was assessed prior to and after being exposed to a racially-charged movie clip. In addition, the salivary cortisol was assessed in the morning and evening of the day following exposure to the racially-charged movie clip. Results: A statistically significant increase in cortisol was found (P 0.005) in the whole sample. High cortisol responders (highest tertile) and low cortisol responders (lowest tertile) were compared. The high cortisol responders had an elevated cortisol level the following morning (P 0.05) that abated by the evening sample (P > 0.20). In addition, the high cortisol responders who were younger, had lower waist to hip ratios, and experienced less lifetime discrimination than the low cortisol responders (P’s 0.05). Conclusions: The findings of an increase in cortisol in response to a racial provocation may provide a potential explanatory factor for the increased rates of cardiovascular disease in African-American individuals.

Highlights

In the United States, major disparities in the prevalence and incidence of cardiovascular disease exist among racial and ethnic groups [1,2,3,4]
Increased HPA activation by stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome [9], and elevated cortisol levels have been shown to mediate the association between depressive symptoms and elevated blood glucose levels [10]
Given that laboratory-induced stressors may characterize cortisol reactivity that predicts future cardiovascular disease [19,20,21], the present study investigated Salivary cortisol reactivity to a racial provocation

Summary

Introduction

In the United States, major disparities in the prevalence and incidence of cardiovascular disease exist among racial and ethnic groups [1,2,3,4]. AfricanAmerican individuals suffer from cardiovascular disease more often than non-Hispanic Euro-American individuals [5]. This health disparity challenges researchers to discern differences in the genesis and perpetuation of the disease between the ethnicities/races. A growing body of research implicates psychosocial risk factors (i.e., hostility, depression, social isolation, stress, and low socioeconomic status) in the etiology, pathogenesis and course of cardiovascular disease [6]. Increased HPA activation by stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome [9], and elevated cortisol levels have been shown to mediate the association between depressive symptoms and elevated blood glucose levels [10]. Recent prospective studies provide direct evidence for a causal role, so that glucocorticoid excess predicts increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence [11,12]

Methods

Results

Conclusion