This investigation was designed to evaluate the production rates and concentrations of salivary alpha-amylase as a measure of adrenergic activity under several conditions of stress in human subjects. Saliva and blood samples were simultaneously collected from men at four 15 min intervals both before and after regimens for exercise, a written examination, or a rest period. The regressions of salivary alpha-amylase on plasma norepinephrine (NE) concentrations were significant for both exercise (P < 0.001) and examination (P < 0.01) protocols. Aerobic exercise induced a 3-fold mean increase in alpha-amylase; both NE and epinephrine (EP) increased approximately 5-fold over control levels. Levels of alpha-amylase and NE returned to control levels within 30-45 min after exercise, but EP remained elevated by approximately 2-fold during the remaining hour of observation. During the written examination, alpha-amylase and NE, but not EP, concentrations increased in parallel. In further studies the effects of exercise and exposure to heat and cold on the relationship of salivary alpha-amylase to heart rate and body temperature were investigated. Greater intensities of exercise were associated with greater increases in alpha-amylase concentrations. During heat exposure in a sauna (66 degrees C for 40 min) amylase, heart rate and body temperature all increased progressively. However, during exposure to cold (4 degrees C for 40 min) amylase increased rapidly, though heart rate and body temperature remained unchanged. Salivary cortisol concentrations were unchanged during exposure to heat or cold. We conclude that salivary alpha-amylase concentrations are predictive of plasma catecholamine levels, particularly NE, under a variety of stressful conditions, and may be a more direct and simple end point of catecholamine activity than are changes in heart rate.

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Mice in group 1 (controls) spent all their lives with other mice. Mice in group 2 had experience only with male and female rats after weaning; group 3 mice had no experience with peers-each litter was reduced to one pup, which was reared in isolation after weaning; group 4 mice were fostered to a lactating rat mother at approximately 3 days of age and thereafter lived only with rats. In adulthood group 4 mice were the least active and group 3 the most; mice in groups 2 and 4 preferred to spend time in a chamber adjacent to a rat, those from groups 1 and 3 in a chamber containing another mouse; when mice were paired off within experimental groups and given the opportunity to fight each other, the percentage of pairs in which 4 were, respectively, 44,27,100, and 0.

The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between the hormonal and psychological responses of young men about to engage in a potentially life-threatening event. Subjects were recruited to take their first skydiving jump. The scores on questionnaires designed to assess anxiety were not significantly increased at 0800 h on the morning before the jump by comparison with scores obtained from the same subjects 3-5 days previously. However, a psychological instrument for rating of events indicated significantly increased intensity, and sympathetic nervous system activity, as measured by the salivary amylase response, was increased over self-control values. Salivary cortisol and testosterone levels were significantly lower on the morning of the jump than self-control values and values in control subjects determined at the same time of day. However, plasma LH was not suppressed. The anxiety and stress measures as well as the rating of events rose to high levels just before the jump. With the exception of testosterone, which remained low, serum cortisol, PRL, and GH all increased greatly subsequent to the rise in psychological measures, reached peak values before or shortly after landing, and declined significantly within the next hour. Anxiety and subjective stress scores declined to those of the self-control values within 15 min after landing, but the rating of events scale remained significantly elevated. In summary, reported anxiety associated with a purely psychological stressor was suppressed until within a few hours preceding the event, but was preceded by an increase in sympathetic nervous system activity and suppression of plasma cortisol and salivary testosterone levels. The event itself was associated with a reversal of the cortisol decline; other stress-associated hormones increased, but salivary testosterone remained low. (J Clin Endocrinol