Usefulness of salivary alpha amylase as a biomarker of chronic stress and stress related oral mucosal changes - a pilot study

Abstract

Introduction: Salivary biomarkers are suggested to provide a reliable, noninvasive and objective measurement of chronic psychosocial stress and helps in assessment of pivotal role of stress in causation or precipitation of multitude of health problems. Objectives: To evaluate the usefulness of salivary alpha amylase activity as an objective indicator of chronic stress and to find out any correlation between stress- related mucosal complaints and its levels. Study Design: Study was conducted among 50 subjects suffering from chronic stress related problems and 50 non-stressed individuals who were screened with a psychometric questionnaire. Brief case history and oral examination was carried out and about one ml of unstimulated saliva was collected. Salivary alpha amylase levels estimated were compared between study and control group and between subjects with and without oral mucosal changes using non parametric Mann Whitney U test. Results: There was statistically significant higher salivary alpha amylase levels in study group (p =.002) and salivary alpha amylase between the oral mucosal complaints group and without oral mucosal complaints group within the total study population were found to be statistically significant (p=0.045). Conclusions: Salivary amylase activity increases in patients with chronic psychosocial stress and may be used as a biomarker of chronic stress, but it may not be an indicator to suggest the development of stress related oral mucosal changes. Key words:Salivary biomarker, salivary alpha amylase, psychosocial stress, sympathetic nervous system, oral mucosal changes.

Levels of Anxiety and Salivary Alpha-Amylase in Children During Restorative Dental Treatment

“…The level of salivary alpha-amylase increases in patients with chronic psychosocial stress, but may not be an indicator to suggest the development of stress related to changes in oral mucosa. The levels of salivary alpha-amylase reflect the activity of the sympathetic nervous system [12] and can be used as a stress biomarker since physiological and psychological changes cause an increase in their levels.…”

“…Recent studies have suggested that any psychological or physiological change is followed by an increase of these stress biomarkers [13,14]. In addition, salivary biomarkers have gained popularity because they are reliable, easy to use, non-invasive and of rapid collection, compared to samples such as blood and urine [12].…”

“…There are also objective measures such as the measurement of biomarkers present in urine, blood and saliva [12][13][14].…”

Community Gardens as Health Promoters: Effects on Mental and Physical Stress Levels in Adults with and without Mental Disabilities

“…Saliva sampling is a noninvasive, easy, and stress-free procedure [53], so levels of salivary cortisol have previously been used to assess endocrine activity [54,55]. However, since α-amylase responds more quickly and sensitively to psychological stress than cortisol [56], it has been widely used to quantify this [35,53,[56][57][58][59][60][61].…”

Serum Amylase Levels Can Predict Hospitalization and Operation Rates

“…There were no patients with anxiety disorders, depressive episodes, or hyperlipidemia in group 3, even though many studies have referred to high saliva (20,21). In all groups of diseases, the patients with abdominal and pelvic pain made up the highest percentage (16.0%).…”