TY - JOUR
T1 - Salivary flow and alpha-amylase
T2 - Collection technique, duration, and oral fluid type
AU - Beltzer, Emilie K.
AU - Fortunato, Christine K.
AU - Guaderrama, Melissa M.
AU - Peckins, Melissa K.
AU - Garramone, Bianca M.
AU - Granger, Douglas A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported in part by the Behavioral Endocrinology Laboratory at The Pennsylvania State University. Thanks are due to Becky Zavacky and Doug Maple, and the many undergraduate students enrolled in Research Applications in Biobehavioral Health at Penn State who donated saliva specimens. In the interest of full disclosure, Douglas A. Granger is the founder of Salimetrics, LLC (State College, PA).
PY - 2010/9
Y1 - 2010/9
N2 - There has been renewed interest in salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), a surrogate marker of autonomic/sympathetic activity, in biosocial research on stress vulnerability, reactivity, and recovery. This study explored the impact of saliva flow rate on sAA measurement by examining the influence of (1) the technique used to collect oral fluid-synthetic swab, cotton pledget, hydrocellulose microsponge, or passive drool; (2) collection point duration--the length of time the technique is employed (1-5 min); and (3) oral fluid type--whole unstimulated saliva (not absorbed by any material) or oral fluid sampled from areas near the parotid, submandibular, or sublingual salivary glands. sAA activity (U/mL) was the highest in oral fluid collected from the parotid and submandibular gland areas. The volume (mL) of oral fluid collected increased, and the activity of sAA (U/mL) decreased, as collection point duration lengthened. The magnitude of these effects varied according to collection technique and oral fluid type. Across all conditions, there were positive correlations (range .70-88) between sAA activity (U/mL) and sAA output (U/min). Management of these potential sources of measurement error will be essential to ensuring the success of future research on the correlates and concomitants of sAA activity, stress-related reactivity and recovery, and diurnal variation.
AB - There has been renewed interest in salivary alpha-amylase (sAA), a surrogate marker of autonomic/sympathetic activity, in biosocial research on stress vulnerability, reactivity, and recovery. This study explored the impact of saliva flow rate on sAA measurement by examining the influence of (1) the technique used to collect oral fluid-synthetic swab, cotton pledget, hydrocellulose microsponge, or passive drool; (2) collection point duration--the length of time the technique is employed (1-5 min); and (3) oral fluid type--whole unstimulated saliva (not absorbed by any material) or oral fluid sampled from areas near the parotid, submandibular, or sublingual salivary glands. sAA activity (U/mL) was the highest in oral fluid collected from the parotid and submandibular gland areas. The volume (mL) of oral fluid collected increased, and the activity of sAA (U/mL) decreased, as collection point duration lengthened. The magnitude of these effects varied according to collection technique and oral fluid type. Across all conditions, there were positive correlations (range .70-88) between sAA activity (U/mL) and sAA output (U/min). Management of these potential sources of measurement error will be essential to ensuring the success of future research on the correlates and concomitants of sAA activity, stress-related reactivity and recovery, and diurnal variation.
KW - Parotid saliva
KW - Saliva collection devices
KW - Saliva volume
KW - Salivary alpha-amylase
KW - Salivary flow rate
KW - Sublingual saliva
KW - Submandibular saliva
KW - Whole saliva
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77955092859&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=77955092859&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.physbeh.2010.05.016
DO - 10.1016/j.physbeh.2010.05.016
M3 - Article
C2 - 20515701
AN - SCOPUS:77955092859
SN - 0031-9384
VL - 101
SP - 289
EP - 296
JO - Physiology and Behavior
JF - Physiology and Behavior
IS - 2
ER -