%0 Journal Article
%T Measuring DHEA-S in saliva: time of day differences and positive correlations between two different types of collection methods
%A Courtney A Whetzel
%A Laura C Klein
%J BMC Research Notes
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1756-0500-3-204
%X Fifty-six healthy young adult men and women aged 18-30 years came to the lab in the morning (0800 hrs; 14 men, 14 women) or late afternoon (1600 hrs; 14 men, 14 women) and provided saliva samples via cotton Salivette and passive drool. Passive drool collection was taken first to minimize particle cross contamination from the cotton swab. Samples were assayed for DHEA-S in duplicate using a commercially available kit (DSL, Inc., Webster, TX). DHEA-S levels collected via Salivette and passive drool were positively correlated (r = + 0.83, p < 0.05). Mean DHEA-S levels were not significantly different between collection methods. Salivary DHEA-S levels were significantly higher in males than in females, regardless of saliva collection method (p < 0.05), and morning DHEA-S values were higher than evening levels (p < 0.05).Results suggest that DHEA-S can be measured accurately using passive drool or cotton Salivette collection methods. Results also suggest that DHEA-S levels change across the day and that future studies need to take this time of day difference into account when measuring DHEA-S.Dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S), the sulfated form of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), is an important health biomarker used consistently in the measurement of allostatic load [1,2]. As a steroid, there has been interest in measuring DHEA-S in youth and aging studies [3-7]. Despite research interest in this biomarker, there is ambiguity regarding the best method to measure DHEA-S in saliva. For example, recent studies have incorporated salivary DHEA-S as an additional biomarker of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) function [8-11], however their collection methods vary between passive drool and cotton salivette. This collection method difference is important because hormone recovery from saliva can vary by collection device [12-14]. Specifically, hormones such as sex steroids (e.g., testosterone and estrogen) and DHEA that are detectable in saliva must be collected thro
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1756-0500/3/204