Ahmed Tashfia, Powner Michael B, Qassem Meha, Kyriacou Panayiotis A
Research Centre for Biomedical Engineering (RCBE), School of Science and Technology, City, University of London, Northampton Square, London, EC1V 0HB, UK.
Centre for Applied Vision Research, School of Health and Psychological Sciences, City, University of London, Northampton Square, London, EC1V 0HB, UK.
Sci Rep. 2024 Dec 30;14(1):31578. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-69466-5.
Traditional methods for management of mental illnesses in the post-pandemic setting can be inaccessible for many individuals due to a multitude of reasons, including financial stresses and anxieties surrounding face-to-face interventions. The use of a point-of-care tool for self-management of stress levels and mental health status is the natural trajectory towards creating solutions for one of the primary contributors to the global burden of disease. Notably, cortisol is the main stress hormone and a key logical indicator of hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis activity that governs the activation of the human stress system. Therefore, the measurement of cortisol is imperative to lead the discussion of the relationship between psychological stress and mental health deterioration. The aim of the current study was to determine salivary cortisol concentrations of healthy individuals undergoing the MAST protocol for human stress activation, through optical-colorimetric techniques. The study demonstrates the use of the blue tetrazolium (BT) method as successful means of rapid measurement of cortisol in saliva, comparable to the gold-standard technique i.e., enzyme-linked immunoassays (ELISA) with a coefficient of determination (R) of 0.997. The results support the future development of a point-of-care optical sensor-based device and mobile application for cortisol monitoring and stress profiling in adults.
在疫情后环境中，传统的精神疾病管理方法由于多种原因，许多人无法获得，这些原因包括经济压力以及对面对面干预的焦虑。使用即时护理工具进行压力水平和心理健康状况的自我管理，是为全球疾病负担的主要促成因素之一找到解决方案的自然发展方向。值得注意的是，皮质醇是主要的应激激素，也是下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴活动的关键逻辑指标，该轴控制着人类应激系统的激活。因此，测量皮质醇对于引领关于心理压力与心理健康恶化之间关系的讨论至关重要。本研究的目的是通过光学比色技术，测定接受人类应激激活MAST方案的健康个体的唾液皮质醇浓度。该研究表明，蓝色四氮唑（BT）法作为快速测量唾液中皮质醇的成功方法，与金标准技术即酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）相当，测定系数（R）为0.997。研究结果支持未来开发基于即时护理光学传感器的设备和移动应用程序，用于成人的皮质醇监测和压力分析。
