Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• García-Blanco, Ana
• Vento, Máximo
• Diago, Vicente
• Cháfer-Pericás, Consuelo

Titel

Reference ranges for cortisol and α-amylase in mother and newborn saliva samples at different perinatal and postnatal periods

Ist Teil von

• Journal of chromatography. B, Analytical technologies in the biomedical and life sciences, 2016-06, Vol.1022, p.249-255

Ort / Verlag

Netherlands: Elsevier B.V

Erscheinungsjahr

2016

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• •Simple sample treatment with a reduced sample volume.•Cortisol reference levels in mothers at different perinatal and postnatal points.•Reference ranges for cortisol in healthy newborns.•Statistical differences between the two population groups at different periods.•Potential use in clinical research on perinatal and postnatal stress. This paper describes a reliable analytical method based on Ultra High-Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry to determine cortisol in saliva samples from healthy mothers (n=87) and newborns (n=65) at different time points: (i) 38 weeks of gestation, (ii) in the immediate postnatal period (48h) after a term delivery and, (iii) 3 months after delivery. The procedure is characterized by a simple sample treatment employing a sample volume of 25μL. In addition to this, salivary α-amylase was determined using a commercial kit. We have proposed potential reference ranges in saliva for cortisol (0.7–35nmolL−1) and α-amylase (2–500UmL−1) in mothers, and for cortisol (0.1–56nmolL−1) and α-amylase (0.1–500UmL−1) in newborn infants. In addition, statistical differences between the two sensitive population groups (mothers and newborns) at the perinatal and postnatal periods were studied. A lower concentration for maternal cortisol was found at 38 weeks of gestation than at 48h (p=0.048) or 3 months after delivery (p=0.021). Similar results were found for the α-amylase determinations. Hence, higher concentrations than could be expected from a chronic stress marker were found at 3 months after delivery than at 38 weeks of gestation (p<0.001) or 48h after delivery (p<0.001). We conclude that this analytical method could be applied to further clinical research on perinatal and postnatal stress, such as threatened preterm labor and/or parenting stress, respectively.