Hair as a Specimen to Determine the Concentration of Cortisol Levels in Individuals that have Performed Physical Activity

Introduction The physical inactivity has been identified as the fourth leading risk factor for mortality in the world. Physical activity may exert beneficial influence on the cardiovascular system, besides to bring benefits to the lipid metabolism, the increase of the lean mass, and the increase of the basal metabolism. As a response of the physical activity, the concentration of several hormones is altered, as the cortisol. Different specimens are used to determination of concentration of the cortisol, like saliva, urine, blood samples and hair. The aim of this narrative review is to present scientific information about the use of the hair to evaluate the concentration of cortisol in individuals that have performed physical activity. Materials and Methods Publications were accessed in the database PubMed September 12th, 2018 using the keywords hair and “physical activity” and cortisol. Results In general, it was found that the hair can be used to determine the concentration of cortisol in different populations. Conclusions In conclusion, all the considerations of this review, it is possible to conclude that the hair can be used successfully, as a specimen, to determine the concentration of the cortisol in the body. This would have an importance to verify the response of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenocortical axis to the physical activity.