Impact of level of physical activity on cortisol awakening response in morbidly obese women

Summary Introduction Physical activity increases cortisol-awakening response (CAR) and reduces perceived stress in several pathologies but its impact in morbidly obese subjects, especially women, remains poorly known. Synthesis and results According to their level of physical activity (  1000 METmin/week), 37 middle-age (41.4 ± 1.7 years) morbidly obese women (BMI: 46.2 ± 0.7 kg/m2) were divided into group 1 (n = 21) and group 2 (n = 16). Saliva samples were taken for cortisol analysis at awakening (coraw) and 30 min after (cor30aw), with (CAR) determination. In parallel, body weight and composition were determined by bioelectrical impedance, whereas quality of life, stress and depression were estimated by specific questionnaires. In group 2 (> 1000MET-min/week) vs. group 1 ( Conclusion The level of physical activity influenced both body composition and CAR as demonstrated in other pathologies, but did not change quality of life, perceived stress and depression in a middle-age morbidly-obese female population. Further studies with a larger number of subjects are necessary to complete these preliminary results and to understand the implicated mechanisms.