Cortisone is the inactive form of cortisol. Cortisone shows minimal biological activity per se, reflecting negligible affinity for the glucocorticoid and aldosterone receptors. The kidney, colon and saliva gland have lots of activity for changing cortisol to cortisone (active to inactive) to keep cortisol off the aldosterone receptor. Cortisone is converted back in the liver, fat, etc. (inactive to active).
Why are we looking at cortisone in addition to cortisol on the DUTCH test?
- It can help to confirm the diurnal pattern of cortisol
- It does NOT necessarily tell you if cortisol or cortisone is preferred overall (look to the metabolites THE and THF for this)
- It helps you identify if there is potential cortisol (hydrocortisone) contamination. Ex. Somebody puts cortisol cream on their knees at bedtime. In this situation the evening cortisol levels could be inflated and it would then make more sense to look at the cortisone levels. If cortisone levels go with it (also elevated at night) then we have real physiological production of cortisol. If, on the other hand, the cortisone is much lower at night it is likely that the cortisol cream (hydro-cortisone = cortisol) the cortisol levels were “contaminated”. This is a rare case, but when it does happen the cortisone levels become your best representation of your cortisol pattern throughout the day.
- What you see in urine (or saliva) as free cortisone actually reflects free cortisol that enters the kidney and is converted to cortisone locally before excretion. This makes free cortisone a secondary, confirmatory marker for the up-and-down pattern of free cortisol.
- When free cortisol is high and cortisone is NOT, free cortisol levels may not be quite as high as the cortisol levels themselves imply…OR free cortisol could be elevated due to a metabolic preference (away from cortisone) more so than increased production.
- The relationship between free cortisol and free cortisone tells us some information about how sharply the kidney is deactivating cortisol. But it doesn’t tell us SYSTEMICALLY which one is predominating (use the ratio of the metabolites for that).
Free cortisone is a secondary, confirmatory marker for the up-and-down pattern of free cortisol.
Free cortisol is of primary importance, but the pattern of cortisone helps to shape what free cortisol implies about systemic free cortisol.
When free cortisol is low and cortisone is low also, it confirms the low levels.
Understand and improve your laboratory results with our health dashboard.
Upload your lab reports and get your interpretation today.
Our technology helps to understand, combine, track, organize, and act on your medical lab test results.
Free cortisone is a secondary, confirmatory marker for the up-and-down pattern of free cortisol.
Free cortisol is of primary importance, but the pattern of cortisone helps to shape what free cortisol implies about systemic free cortisol.
When free cortisol is high and cortisone is high also, it confirms the elevation.
Interpret Your Lab Results
Upload your lab report, and we'll interpret and provide you with recommendations today.
Get StartedOur specialized data entry service is designed to seamlessly integrate your laboratory results into your private dashboard. Just send in your lab test results—whether it's an image or a file—and our skilled data entry team will handle the rest. We accommodate various file formats like PDFs, JPGs, and Excel.
The first report is complimentary. After that, the data entry service is priced at $15 per report, unless it's part of your subscribed plan. It's an ideal solution whether you have numerous reports to upload or if your schedule doesn't permit self-data entry.
We strive to make the data entry process easy for you. Whether by offering dozens of templates to choose from that pre-populate the most popular laboratory panels or by giving you instant feedback on the entered values. Our data entry forms are an easy, fast, and convenient way to enter the reports yourself. There is no limit on how many lab reports you can upload.
Personal plans
track personal results
Professional Plan
track multiple client's results
$15/month
$250/once
own it for life
$45/month
for health professionals
Personal Account
$15/month
for personal lab results
$250/once
own it for life
Level up your lab report analysis with our Pro plan, built for health practitioners like you.
Health Business Account
$45/month
Unlock additional Pro plans when you sign up.
At HealthMatters, we're committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We've put industry-leading security standards in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of the information under our control. We use procedural, physical, and electronic security methods designed to prevent unauthorized people from getting access to this information. Our internal code of conduct adds additional privacy protection. All data is backed up multiple times a day and encrypted using SSL certificates. See our Privacy Policy for more details.
24hr Free Cortisol, 24hr Free Cortisone, a-Tetrahydrocortisol (a-THF), a-Tetrahydrocortisol (a-THF) (male), b-Tetrahydrocortisol (b-THF), b-Tetrahydrocortisol (b-THF) (male), b-Tetrahydrocortisone (b-THE), b-Tetrahydrocortisone (b-THE) (male), Cortisol A (Waking), Cortisol B (Morning), Cortisol C (Afternoon), Cortisol D (Night), Cortisone A (Waking), Cortisone B (Morning), Cortisone C (Afternoon), Cortisone D (Night), Metabolized Cortisol (THF+THE), Metabolized Cortisol (THF+THE) (male), Saliva Cortisol - Afternoon, Saliva Cortisol - Extra 1, Saliva Cortisol - Insomnia, Saliva Cortisol - Night, Saliva Cortisol - W+30 min., Saliva Cortisol - W+60 min., Saliva Cortisol - Waking, Saliva Cortisol Total, Saliva Cortisone - Afternoon, Saliva Cortisone - Extra 1, Saliva Cortisone - Insomnia, Saliva Cortisone - Night, Saliva Cortisone - W+30 min, Saliva Cortisone - W+60 min., Saliva Cortisone - Waking, Saliva Cortisone Total