The effect of saliva stimulation on the secretion of cortisol during stress and physiological conditions.

Many studies use stimulated saliva for the assessment of cortisol. However, it is not yet clear how stimulation affects the flow of specific markers. The aim was to assess whether stimulation of salivation affects the physiological flow of cortisol during a stressing day as compared to an ordinary day. The second aim was to show how the normalising factor affects the outcome of the study. Stimulated saliva was taken from 42 children at 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 a.m. on two separate days one month apart. During the first day, the children were exposed to stress situation, while the second day was considered a control day. The concentration of cortisol was analysed using ELISA. The highest level of cortisol was observed in the morning of the stress day (p 0.99). Based on our results, the examination of the cortisol diurnal rhythm is not reliable in stimulated saliva. Moreover, the effect of saliva stimulation has to be taken into account for every marker individually (Fig. 2, Ref. 22).