Jessop David S, Turner-Cobb Julie M
Henry Wellcome Laboratories for Integrative Neuroscience and Endocrinology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Stress. 2008 Jan;11(1):1-14. doi: 10.1080/10253890701365527. Epub 2007 Jul 16.
Measurement of salivary cortisol can provide important information about hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity under normal conditions and in response to stress. However, there are many variables relating to the measurement of cortisol in saliva which may introduce error and therefore may render difficult the comparison and interpretation of data between, and within, laboratories. This review addresses the effects of gender, age, time and location of sampling, units of measurement, assay conditions and compliance with the protocol, all of which have the potential to impact upon the precision, accuracy and reliability of salivary cortisol measurements in the literature. Some of these factors are applicable to both adults and children, but the measurement of salivary cortisol in children introduces aspects of unique variability which demand special attention. The specific focus of this review is upon the somewhat neglected area of methodological variability of salivary cortisol measurement in children. In addition to these methodological issues, the review highlights the use of salivary cortisol measurements to provide information about HPA axis dysfunction associated with psycho- and patho-physiological conditions in children. Novel applications for salivary cortisol measurements in future research into HPA axis activity in children are also discussed.
唾液皮质醇的测量能够提供有关下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴在正常条件下以及对应激反应时活动的重要信息。然而，唾液中皮质醇测量涉及诸多变量，这些变量可能会引入误差，进而可能使不同实验室之间以及同一实验室内部的数据比较和解读变得困难。本综述探讨了性别、年龄、采样时间和地点、测量单位、检测条件以及对方案的依从性等因素的影响，所有这些因素都有可能对文献中唾液皮质醇测量的精密度、准确性和可靠性产生影响。其中一些因素对成人和儿童均适用，但儿童唾液皮质醇的测量存在一些独特的变异性问题，需要特别关注。本综述的具体重点在于儿童唾液皮质醇测量方法变异性这一在一定程度上被忽视的领域。除了这些方法学问题外，本综述还强调了利用唾液皮质醇测量来提供有关儿童心理和病理生理状况相关的HPA轴功能障碍信息。文中还讨论了唾液皮质醇测量在未来儿童HPA轴活动研究中的新应用。
