INTRODUCTION: This study aims to investigate the relationship between blood cortisol, 24-hour urinary cortisol, and cortisol levels after overnight administration of 1 mg dexamethasone with liver steatosis in obese subjects.
METHODS: Blood cortisol, 24-hour urinary cortisol, 1 mg Dexamethasone suppression test (DST) cortisol levels, and anthropometric measurements of obese patients were retrospectively recorded. Liver steatosis was assessed using ultrasonography (USG) results and the Hepatic steatosis index (HSI) was calculated from the recorded data.
RESULTS: The mean blood cortisol of the 296 patients included in the study was 13.51±4.74 µg/dL (median=12.9; min= 3.3; max=35.8), the mean 24-hour urinary cortisol was 22.9±27.65 µg/dL (median=16.22; min=3.08; max=350.28), the mean 1 mg DST cortisol was 0.76±0.29 µg/dL (median=0.7; min=0.5; max=2), and the mean HSI was 56.96±8.12. No significant relationship was found between cortisol levels and HSI (p>0.05). After adjustment for age, sex, and comorbidities, the correlation between HSI and 1 mg DST cortisol was higher in the group without fatty liver (rs=0.355) than in the group with fatty liver (rs=0.060) (p=0.032).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Further research is needed to better understand the complex relationship between HSI and cortisol in obese individuals.