Table 1.

Mean (SEM) cortisol concentrations (in nmol/l) on day 2 in the three groups (RE+CORT, RE, CORT) before pill intake, 30 and 45 min after pill intake.

Cortisol concentrations (nmol/l)		Before pill intake	After 30 min	After 45 min
Group	RE + CORT (n = 25)	12.84 ± 7.29	189.51 ± 155.27***	255.89 ± 280.04***
	RE (n = 25)	13.49 ± 8.38	10.97 ± 8.06*	10.28 ± 7.05**
	CORT (n = 24)	16.09 ± 15.53	275.25 ± 319.33**	270.59 ± 306.69**

Note. In the cortisol groups RE+CORT and CORT, cortisol concentrations were higher at 30 and 45 min after treatment compared with baseline. The placebo group (RE), in contrast, showed significantly lower cortisol concentrations at 30 and 45 min compared to baseline. ***p ≤ 0.001; **p ≤ 0.01; *p ≤ 0.05 (post hoc pairwise comparisons using the Bonferroni correction).