Stress Reactivity of Physical Stressor on Depression

The Effect of Acute Exercise on Reactivity and Recovery of Cortisol and DHEAS Levels in Depressive and Healthy Older Adults.

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01791023

Enrollment

Registered

2013-02-13

Start date

2011-03-31

Completion date

2012-12-31

Last updated

2013-02-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Depression

Keywords

Depression, Physical exercise, Stress

Brief summary

Depressive elderly individuals have showed higher basal level of cortisol and lower level of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Moreover, changes on these hormone levels have also observed in reactivity of an acute stress, such as physical exercise. On the other hand, physical training can modulate the release of these hormones. Therefore, depressive elderly individuals physically actives might show attenuated reactivity of an acute physical stressor compared to sedentary elderly individuals. The aim of these study is to compare the effect of an acute physical stressor on cortisol levels in depressive and healthy individuals, physically actives and sedentaries. Additionally, the sulfated form of DHEA (DHEAS) serves as a reservoir for DHEA, because of that it is expected that DHEAS levels might reduce after the acute physical exercise.

Detailed description

Depressive and healthy individuals were submitted to one session of 30 minutes of physical exercise of moderate intensity. Before and soon after the exercise it was collected saliva - to analyse cortisol and DHEAS hormones - and some psychological and physical aspects were also collected, such as anamneses, scales of anxiety, temperaments, mood, stress and quality of life. Moreover, during exercise heart rate and mood scale were assessed. To evaluate the reactivity and recovery of physical stressor (physical exercise) saliva tubes and psychological scales were collected 30 minutes and 45 minutes after the end of exercise.

Interventions

OTHERPhysical exercise

30 minutes of aerobic exercise on treadmill with moderate intensity.

Study design

Allocation

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

60 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

* Age above of 60 years old * Clinical diagnostic of depression

Exclusion criteria

* Hormonal replacement * Physical disease * Fasting

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Changes from baseline in cortisol and DHEAS levels to after an acute session of exercise	From before and to after one session of 30 minutes of exercise.

Countries

Brazil

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026