Collecting Hair Samples for Hair Cortisol Analysis in African Americans

Kathy D. Wright; Jodi L. Ford; Joseph Perazzo; Lenette M. Jones; Sherrilynn Mahari; Brent A. Sullenbarger; Mark L. Laudenslager

doi:10.3791/57288

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Method Article

Collecting Hair Samples for Hair Cortisol Analysis in African Americans

18.8K views

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DOI:

10.3791/57288

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June 10th, 2018

Kathy D. Wright¹ , Jodi L. Ford¹ , Joseph Perazzo² , Lenette M. Jones³ , Sherrilynn Mahari⁴ , Brent A. Sullenbarger⁵^,⁶^,⁷ , Mark L. Laudenslager⁸

¹College of Nursing, The Ohio State University, ²College of Nursing, University of Cincinnati, ³School of Nursing, University of Michigan, ⁴Licensed Cosmetologist Consultant, ⁵Clinical Research Manager, The Ohio State University, ⁶Biomedical Core Research Coordinator, The Ohio State University, ⁷College of Nursing Biomedical Core Research Laboratory, The Ohio State University, ⁸Department of Psychiatry, Behavioral Immunology & Endocrinology Laboratory, University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus

Summary

Hair cortisol concentration analysis provides an alternative to traditional measures of cortisol; however, to collect hair samples from African Americans, scientists need to be culturally informed and competent. The purpose of this protocol is to demonstrate a culturally informed technique to collect hair samples for cortisol analysis from African Americans.

Abstract

The hormone cortisol is typically assessed in saliva, serum, or urine samples. More recently, cortisol has been successfully extracted from hair, including humans. The advantage of hair cortisol concentration is that it reflects a retrospective representation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function over time, much like hemoglobin A1C represents glycemic control. However, obtaining hair samples can be challenging, due to the cultural beliefs and hair care practices of minority participants. For example, African Americans may be reluctant to provide samples. Additionally, few researchers are trained to collect hair samples from African Americans. The purpose of this paper is to present a culturally informed protocol to help researchers obtain hair samples from African Americans. To illustrate the representative results of this protocol implementation, de-identified data from African Americans that participated in a community-based study on chronic stress are provided. Hair practice preferences are assessed. The participants are made comfortable by showing pictures of hair samples prior to cutting their hair. The single strain twist and gently pull method is used to collect approximately 30 - 50 strands of hair from the posterior vertex region of the scalp. This protocol will significantly improve collection of hair samples from African Americans.

Introduction

Collecting samples of saliva, blood, or urine for cortisol analysis has unique procedural challenges and greater participant burden, as the procedure requires multiple saliva samples, venipuncture samples, or 24-hour urine collection. Obtaining cortisol from hair samples is a simple and acceptable alternative to using saliva, serum, or urine samples¹^,². Hair cortisol provides a retrospective representation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function over time. Approximately 3 cm of hair collected from the scalp is equal to average cortisol release for the past 3 months¹. Howev....