Salivary cortisone, as a biomarker for psychosocial stress, is associated with state anxiety and heart rate. (March 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bae, Yoon Ju; Reinelt, Janis; Netto, Jeffrey; Uhlig, Marie; Willenberg, Anja; Ceglarek, Uta; Villringer, Arno; Thiery, Joachim; Gaebler, Michael; Kratzsch, Juergen
• Is Part Of: Psychoneuroendocrinology. Volume 101(2019)
• Page Start: 35
• Page End: 41
• Publication Date: 2019-03
• Subjects: 11ß-HSD2 11 beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 2 -- 17-OHP 17-hydroxyprogesterone -- AA alpha-amylase -- ACTH adrenocorticotropic hormone -- AND androstenedione -- ANS autonomic nervous system -- AUC area under the curve -- AVP arginine vasopressin -- BMI body mass index -- CBG corticosteroid binding globulin -- CRH corticotropin-releasing hormone -- CV coefficient of variation -- DHEAS dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate -- E cortisone -- F cortisol -- HPA hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal -- LC–MS/MS liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry -- ROC receiver operating characteristic -- STAI state-trait anxiety inventory -- TSST Trier Social Stress Test; Temporal dynamics -- Stress biomarker -- Salivary cortisone -- Trier Social Stress Test -- State trait anxiety inventory -- Heart rate; Psychoneuroendocrinology -- Periodicals; Endocrinology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Neuropsychoendocrinologie -- Périodiques; 616.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.10.015
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-4530

Abstract

Highlights: Healthy men completed either the Trier Social Stress Test or a Placebo-TSST. High discrimination between two groups was shown in salivary cortisone. Salivary cortisone was associated with state anxiety level and heart rate. Discriminatory power of stress markers was dependent on the time from stress onset. Abstract: Background: Stress activates the central nervous, the autonomic nervous, and the endocrine system. This study aimed to (1) test the usability of salivary cortisone in a standardized psychosocial stressor, (2) create a comprehensive profile of hormonal responses to determine laboratory parameters with high discriminatory power, and (3) analyze their association with psychometric and autonomic stress measures. Methods: Healthy young men (18–35 years) completed either the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) (n = 33) or a Placebo-TSST (n = 34). Blood and saliva were collected at 14 time points along with state-anxiety (STAI) and heart rate. Serum steroids (cortisol*, cortisone*, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate, androstenedione*, progesterone*, 17-hydroxyprogesterone*, testosterone, estradiol*, aldosterone*), salivary cortisol* and cortisone*, copeptin*, adrenocorticoptropic hormone*, corticosteroid-binding globulin, and salivary alpha-amylase* were analyzed. We used mixed-design ANOVAs to test group differences, receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analyses to assess the discriminatory power of each measure, and Spearman correlation analyses to probe the association between measures. Results: The largest area under the ROC curve was observed in salivary cortisone at 20 min after the end of the TSST (AUC = 0.909 ± 0.044, p < 0.0001). Significant time-by-group interactions were found in the parameters marked with * above, indicating stress-induced increases. The peak response of salivary cortisone was significantly associated with those of STAI (rho = 0.477, p = 0.016) and heart rate (rho = 0.699, p < 0.0001) in the TSST group. Conclusion: Our study found salivary cortisone to be a stress biomarker with high discriminatory power and significant correlations with subjective and autonomic stress measures. Our results can inform future stress studies of sampling time for different laboratory parameters.