Clements A D, Parker C R
East Tennessee State University, Johnson City 37614, USA.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1998 Aug;23(6):613-6. doi: 10.1016/s0306-4530(98)00031-6.
Saliva, popular for the measurement of cortisol concentrations, can be easily and painlessly obtained, so that study participants or medical patients may collect their own samples. This raises the question of whether cortisol concentrations are stable if samples are mailed unfrozen. Seventeen adult subjects (five males, 12 females, mean age = 27.82, SD = 7.55) participated in this study. One saliva sample from each subject was split. Half were frozen within 1 h. The other was exposed to conditions that would mimic a postal trip, including wide variations in temperature and movement over 5 days. A statistically significant positive correlation between cortisol concentration in the frozen and nonfrozen saliva samples was found (R2 = 0.92, p < .001). A paired t-test revealed no significant difference between samples (t(16) = 1.56, n.s.). This indicates that cortisol concentrations are stable during extended periods without freezing when exposed to widely varying temperatures and movement.
唾液因可用于测量皮质醇浓度而广受欢迎，它采集方便且无痛，研究参与者或患者可以自行采集样本。这就引发了一个问题：如果样本不冷冻邮寄，皮质醇浓度是否稳定。17名成年受试者（5名男性，12名女性，平均年龄=27.82，标准差=7.55）参与了本研究。每个受试者的一份唾液样本被分成两份。其中一半在1小时内冷冻。另一半则暴露在模拟邮寄过程的条件下，包括5天内温度的大幅变化和晃动。结果发现，冷冻和未冷冻唾液样本中的皮质醇浓度之间存在统计学上显著的正相关（R2 = 0.92，p < .001）。配对t检验显示样本之间无显著差异（t(16) = 1.56，无统计学意义）。这表明，当暴露在温度大幅变化和晃动的环境中时，皮质醇浓度在不冷冻的情况下长时间内是稳定的。
