A study of steroid hormones in fingernails as an index of prolonged stress

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24530933
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Experimental psychology
• Research Institution: National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Japan
• Principal Investigator: Izawa Shuhei 独立行政法人労働安全衛生総合研究所, その他部局等, 主任研究員 (00409757)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): SAITO KEISUKE 日本大学, 文理学部心理学科, 准教授 (80442119)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): SUGAYA NAGISA 横浜市立大学, 医学部, 助教 (90508425) ; SHIROTSUKI KENTARO 武蔵野大学, 人間科学部, 講師 (50582714)
• Research Collaborator: ISOWA TOKIKO 三重大学, 医学系研究科看護学科, 教授 (30336713) ; MIKI KEIICHI 独立行政法人労働安全衛生総合研究所, 作業条件適応研究グループ, 主任研究員 (90392894)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: ストレス / 爪 / コルチゾール / DHEA

Outline of Final Research Achievements

An objective assessment of stress is needed to manage stress and prevent the development of stress-related disease. In this study, we investigated the variations of fingernail cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone in response to prolonged stress (a six-month nursing practice). Eighteen students who participated to the practice provided fingernail samples, in which the timing of clipping fingernails were scheduled considering time lag of fingernail to migrate from the nail matrix to the tip of the nail. Results indicated that fingernail cortisol levels were higher in the students than those in the control group (20 students who did not participate to the practice). However, the results also indicated the importance of considering the growth rate of fingernail, which should be investigated in the future studies.

Free Research Field

生理心理学