Use of saliva cortisol in the dexamethasone suppression test

Abstract

In a sample of 26 inpatients (15 primary endogenous depressives and a heterogeneous comparison group of 11 psychiatric patients), results of the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) for endogenous depression were compared when cortisol was measured in plasma (total and free) and in saliva. Results showed a close linear relationship among plasma total and free cortisol, plasma total cortisol, and saliva cortisol, and between free plasma and saliva cortisol. A saliva cortisol cutoff point of 70 ng/dl achieved the same sensitivity (67%), specificity (91%), and diagnostic confidence (91%) as the best cutoff scores of plasma total cortisol (5 micrograms/dl) and plasma free cortisol (0.15 microgram/dl). These results suggest that saliva cortisol, which directly reflects the biologically active fraction of cortisol, can be used as a reliable and more practical index in the DST, especially in outpatients.

Characterizing the psychophysiological signature of boredom

“…Activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis was measured by salivary cortisol levels. Salivary cortisol levels show a close linear relationship with plasma cortisol levels (Ansseau, 1984;Cook et al, 1986;Greenwood & Shutt, 2004;Harris et al, 1990). …”

Salivary Cortisol in Psychobiological Research: An Overview

“…1983;Vittek et al, 1983: Woolston et al. 1983Ansseau et al, 1984: Burke et al, 1985: Hanada et al. 1985: Hellhammer et al.…”

L -5-Hydroxytryptophan induced increase in salivary cortisol in panic disorder patients and healthy volunteers

“…The saturated roll was placed in a capped plastic vial ("Salivette", Sarstedt), which was stored in a freezer at -20°C until analysis. Salivary cortisol levels were determined by direct radio immunoassay (Ansseau et al 1984), using 125 I-cortisol (Farmos diagnostica, Finland) and antiserum made against the 3-CMO-BSA conjugate by Professor J. Sulon, University of Liège, Belgium. The lower detection limit of the assay was 12.5 ng/dl, with mean intra-and inter-assay coefficients of variation of 4.3% and 8.3%, respectively.…”