ArticleScientific reports2024
Time-course changes in fingernail cortisol levels during pregnancy and postpartum.
Article in Scientific reports, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Men of Color Health Awareness intervention: changes in adrenocortical activity assessed using fingernail cortisol.Frontiers in public health · 2025Trial
- Association of effort-reward imbalance with fingernail cortisol levels in apparel manufacturing workers.Industrial health · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The cortisol level in fingernails can reflect the cumulative hormones produced in the body several months prior. However, previous studies have only demonstrated the cross-sectional associations of fingernail cortisol with salivary or hair cortisol, and not longitudinal changes in fingernail cortisol in situations where cortisol levels in the body could be expected to change. Therefore, this study focused on pregnancy as a model for changes in cortisol levels over a prolonged period of time, and investigating the time courses of fingernail cortisol during pregnancy and the postpartum period. We collected nail samples from 30 healthy women during pregnancy and 12 months postpartum to measure the cortisol levels in the nail. Results showed that cortisol levels in fingernail clippings increased from 1 month before childbirth to 4 months postpartum, with the levels peaking at 2 months postpartum. Additionally, we found higher cortisol levels in fingernail clippings in primiparas than in those of multiparas. The time course of fingernail cortisol levels could replicate the longitudinal changes in cortisol in the body, and differences between multiparas and primiparas seemed to be biologically plausible, which could support the concept of fingernail cortisol as a retrospective index of hormone production.
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Registered trials
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