Low body temperature, a frequently observed manifestation of patients with adrenocortical insufficiency that can recover with glucocorticoid administration: case series of 15 patients

We first report whether adrenocortical insufficiency causes low body temperature in human subjects. We also examined the effects of inflammation on body temperature. Furthermore, we examined whether glucocorticoid administration can increase low body temperature. We examined 15 patients with adrenocortical insufficiency who were admitted to the department of endocrinology in our hospital from October 2007 to August 2011. The mean (SD) patient age was 67.4 (8.2) years. Of the patients, 3 (20.0%) were women and 12 (80.0%) were men, and 8 (53.3%) had inflammation and 7 (46.7%) did not. The numbers of patients in the inflammation group and the non-inflammation group whose body temperatures were <36.0°C upon admission were 5 (63%) of 8 and 5 (71%) of 7, respectively. Inflammation had little effect on body temperature. However, in the non-inflammation group, glucocorticoid significantly increased the mean (SD) body temperature from 35.7 (0.37)°C to 36.4 (0.23)°C (P=0.01). The patients with adrenocortical insufficiency exhibited low body temperature but were able to recover. To prevent adrenal crises, medical practitioners should be aware that low body temperature can occur in patients with adrenocortical insufficiency though the patients have inflammation.