We demonstrated the dissociation between plasma adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and serum cortisol levels during the early recovery period after radical gastrectomy in 9 of 31 patients with gastric adenocarcinoma. Patients with the dissociation between plasma ACTH and serum cortisol levels (DAC) showed a sustained elevation of serum cortisol level on the first or second postoperative day, while the plasma ACTH level returned to its preoperative state. These patients also had more advanced cancers (p < 0.05) and suffered from more postoperative complications (p < 0.05) than those without DAC. In these patients with DAC, serum cortisol and interleukin (IL)-6 levels remained higher on the second postoperative day than in those of the patients without DAC (21.80 ± 1.57 vs. 13.68 ± 0.72 μg/dl, p < 0.001, and 74.31 ± 15.65 vs. 18.75 ± 3.14 pg/ml, p < 0.001, respectively). On the second postoperative day, serum IL-6 levels showed a significant correlation with serum cortisol levels in all patients (r = 0.511, p < 0.01). These results suggest that the DAC during the early postoperative period after radical gastrectomy is associated with advanced stage of cancer and postoperative complication, and that the increased serum IL-6 level is at least in part responsible for maintaining the elevated serum cortisol.

Keywords:
Adrenocorticotropin, Cortisol, Interleukin-6, Dissociation, Gastrectomy
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2000
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