Department of Integrated Dentistry, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan 60-812, Poland.
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan 60-572, Poland.
Mediators Inflamm. 2021 Nov 12;2021:3639441. doi: 10.1155/2021/3639441. eCollection 2021.
The use of easily accessible biomarkers for assessing young patients' health is weighty. This cohort study is aimed at measuring stress/immune biomarkers in the saliva of healthy school-age children and comparing subgroups according to age, sex, and stress perception. . 503 children under 12 years old (8.7 ± 1.3) were included with anthropometric evaluation (height, waist, hip circumference, body weight, and body mass index (BMI)). Levels of opiorphin (OPI), free cortisol, alpha-amylase (sAA), and secreted immunoglobulin (sIgA) were determined by quantitative assays (ELISA) in unstimulated saliva. Unpaired -test, Welch test, and Mann-Whitney test were applied for appropriate group comparisons, and the correlation between variables was analyzed with Spearman's rank coefficient. Results were considered significant at < 0.05.
sIgA and sAA exhibited significant differences depending on age and sex: IgA (ng/mL): 86 ± 68.6 vs. 104.9 ± 72.1 for (6-7 y.o.) and (8-11 y.o.), respectively, and 108.1 ± 80.1 vs. 94.6 ± 62.2 for male and females, respectively; sAA (U/mL): 78.9 ± 54.4 vs. 100.5 ± 81.2 for (6-7 y.o.) and (8-11 y.o.). No difference related to age or sex between groups was observed for cortisol and OPI. However, OPI levels were higher and correlated to prior stress exposure in children (0.31 ± 0.4 vs. 0.26 ± 0.5 ng/mL, = 0.031). sAA was negatively correlated to low mood self-declaration in children in the last two weeks ( = -0.10, = 0.045).
sIgA and sAA can be used as sex- and age-related biomarkers in children 6-12 y.o., which is not the case for free cortisol and opiorphin. However, OPI reflected previous exposure to stress, suggesting its use for evaluating stress-related changes in children.
使用易于获取的生物标志物来评估年轻患者的健康状况非常重要。本队列研究旨在测量健康学龄儿童唾液中的应激/免疫生物标志物，并根据年龄、性别和应激感知对亚组进行比较。共纳入 503 名 12 岁以下儿童（8.7 ± 1.3 岁），进行人体测量评估（身高、腰围、臀围、体重和体重指数（BMI））。使用定量测定法（ELISA）测定未刺激唾液中的阿片肽（OPI）、游离皮质醇、α-淀粉酶（sAA）和分泌型免疫球蛋白（sIgA）的水平。应用配对 t 检验、Welch 检验和 Mann-Whitney U 检验进行适当的组间比较，Spearman 秩相关系数分析变量之间的相关性。结果具有统计学意义的标准为 < 0.05。
sIgA 和 sAA 因年龄和性别而异：IgA（ng/mL）：6-7 岁和 8-11 岁分别为 86 ± 68.6 和 104.9 ± 72.1，男性和女性分别为 108.1 ± 80.1 和 94.6 ± 62.2；sAA（U/mL）：6-7 岁和 8-11 岁分别为 78.9 ± 54.4 和 100.5 ± 81.2。皮质醇和 OPI 无年龄或性别差异。然而，OPI 水平与儿童先前的应激暴露有关（0.31 ± 0.4 比 0.26 ± 0.5ng/mL， = 0.031）。sAA 与儿童过去两周内的低情绪自我报告呈负相关（ = -0.10， = 0.045）。
sIgA 和 sAA 可作为 6-12 岁儿童的性别和年龄相关生物标志物，而游离皮质醇和阿片肽则不然。然而，OPI 反映了先前的应激暴露，表明其可用于评估儿童应激相关变化。
