Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Psychophysiology. 2010 May 1;47(3):587-95. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2009.00957.x. Epub 2010 Jan 11.
tract Salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) increases rapidly in response to psychosocial stress in young adults, but no direct comparisons between different age groups across the life span have been made. Secretion of sAA and cortisol was assessed in children, young adults, and older adults after exposure to the Trier Social Stress Test. Additionally, cardiovascular activity was measured in both adult groups. Older adults showed attenuated sAA, heart rate (HR), and heart rate variability (HRV) responses. Furthermore, we found higher sAA but lower cortisol at baseline as well as lower sAA and cortisol responses in children. Age x sex interactions were observed only for cortisol with higher responses in older male participants. No associations between the parameters were found. These results implicate sAA as an alternative or additional sympathetic stress marker throughout the life span, with marked and rapid stress responsiveness in three relevant age groups.
唾液α-淀粉酶（sAA）在年轻人应对心理社会压力时会迅速增加，但尚未对整个生命跨度的不同年龄组进行直接比较。在经历特里尔社会应激测试后，评估了儿童、年轻人和老年人的 sAA 和皮质醇分泌情况。此外，在两个成年组中还测量了心血管活动。老年人的 sAA、心率（HR）和心率变异性（HRV）反应减弱。此外，我们发现儿童的 sAA 基线水平较高，皮质醇水平较低，sAA 和皮质醇反应水平也较低。仅观察到皮质醇的年龄与性别相互作用，老年男性参与者的反应更高。这些参数之间没有相关性。这些结果表明 sAA 是整个生命跨度中替代或附加的交感神经应激标志物，在三个相关年龄组中具有明显而迅速的应激反应性。
