Elevation of the ACTH/cortisol ratio in female opioid dependent patients: A biomarker of aging and correlate of metabolic and immune activation.
BACKGROUND: Whilst the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) Axis is a major stress axis, and is necessarily perturbed in opioid dependency, and stress is a major contributor to aging mechanisms, the HPA axis has not been studied in opioid dependency in an age-dependent manner.
OBJECTIVE: Hypothesis - Differences .....