What is a suppression test?

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Multiple Choice

What is a suppression test?

Suppression tests check whether the body's own hormone production can be turned off by giving an external regulator, relying on feedback control. If the regulator should dampen production and the hormone level falls, the system is functioning normally. If the hormone does not fall, it suggests the gland is producing autonomously and is not properly controlled by feedback—hyperfunction. A familiar example is the dexamethasone suppression test for cortisol. Dexamethasone provides negative feedback to reduce ACTH release; a normal response is lowered cortisol. If cortisol remains high despite dexamethasone, it points to autonomous cortisol production or resistance to the feedback mechanism. This differs from a stimulation test, which uses a stimulating hormone to provoke production, or from measurements after exercise or imaging after suppression, which assess other aspects of function rather than the gland’s ability to be suppressed by feedback.

Suppression tests check whether the body's own hormone production can be turned off by giving an external regulator, relying on feedback control. If the regulator should dampen production and the hormone level falls, the system is functioning normally. If the hormone does not fall, it suggests the gland is producing autonomously and is not properly controlled by feedback—hyperfunction.

A familiar example is the dexamethasone suppression test for cortisol. Dexamethasone provides negative feedback to reduce ACTH release; a normal response is lowered cortisol. If cortisol remains high despite dexamethasone, it points to autonomous cortisol production or resistance to the feedback mechanism.

This differs from a stimulation test, which uses a stimulating hormone to provoke production, or from measurements after exercise or imaging after suppression, which assess other aspects of function rather than the gland’s ability to be suppressed by feedback.

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