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Influence of age, gender and body mass index on late-night salivary cortisol in healthy adults

  • Sabrina Coelli , Camila Bergonsi Farias , Ariana Aguiar Soares , Gabriele Martins Crescente , Vânia Naomi Hirakata , Luiza Barboza Souza , Mauro Antônio Czepielewski , Joíza Lins Camargo and Sandra Pinho Silveiro EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: May 5, 2017
Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM)
From the journal Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM) Volume 55 Issue 12

Abstract

Background:

Late-night salivary cortisol (LNSC) is one of the most reliable tests to screen for endogenous Cushing syndrome. This test is simple, inexpensive and noninvasive and has high sensitivity and specificity. The aim of our study was to analyze the putative influence of age, gender and body mass index (BMI) on LNSC levels in a healthy population.

Methods:

Cross-sectional study conducted in healthy adults. Midnight saliva samples were collected at home. Participants refrained from teeth brushing, eating or drinking for 2 h prior to collection. Salivary cortisol measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA). The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the hospital (number 140073).

Results:

We evaluated 122 nonsmoking healthy volunteers. Mean age was 35±14 years (range, 18–74 years); 63% were women. Mean BMI was 24±3 kg/m2, blood pressure 115/74 mmHg and fasting plasma glucose 4.8±0.5 mmol/L. LNSC presented a non-Gaussian distribution; the median was 3.58 (range, 0.55–8.55) nmol/L (0.13 [range, 0.02–0.31] μg/dL), and the 97.5th percentile (P97.5) was 8.3 nmol/L (0.3 μg/dL). Multiple linear regression disclosed a significant positive association between salivary cortisol levels and age (r2=0.21, p<0.001), but no association with gender (p=0.105) or BMI (p=0.119). Accordingly, participants aged >50 years had significantly higher salivary cortisol as compared to those aged <50 years (5.24 nmol/L [0.19 μg/dL] vs. 3.31 nmol/L [0.12 μg/dL], respectively, p<0.001).

Conclusions:

The maximum reference value (P97.5) of LNSC was set at 8.3 nmol/L (0.3 μg/dL) using ECLIA. Advanced age was associated with higher LNSC levels, with no evident influence of gender or BMI.

Keywords: age; body mass index; Cushing; cutoff; gender; late-night salivary cortisol

  1. Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

  2. Research funding: This work was supported by Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre – Fundo de Incentivo a Pesquisa e Eventos.

  3. Employment or leadership: None declared.

  4. Honorarium: None declared.

  5. Competing interests: The funding organization played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report, or in the decision to submit the report for publication.

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Received: 2016-12-4
Accepted: 2017-3-28
Published Online: 2017-5-5
Published in Print: 2017-10-26

©2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2016-1100
Keywords for this article
age; body mass index; Cushing; cutoff; gender; late-night salivary cortisol

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Tumor microenvironment and systemic disease: a dual target in medical oncology (also in the case of biomarkers)
  4. Reviews
  5. Sample types applied for molecular diagnosis of therapeutic management of advanced non-small cell lung cancer in the precision medicine
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  7. Opinion Paper
  8. How to reduce scientific irreproducibility: the 5-year reflection
  9. EFLM Paper
  10. Strategies to define performance specifications in laboratory medicine: 3 years on from the Milan Strategic Conference
  11. General Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine
  12. Intensive educational efforts combined with external quality assessment improve the preanalytical phase in general practitioner offices and nursing homes
  13. Separate patient serum sodium medians from males and females provide independent information on analytical bias
  14. Are admission procalcitonin levels universal mortality predictors across different medical emergency patient populations? Results from the multi-national, prospective, observational TRIAGE study
  15. Biochemical testing in a laboratory tent and semi-intensive care of Ebola patients on-site in a remote part of Guinea: a paradigm shift based on a bleach-sensitive point-of-care device
  16. Efficient reporting of the estimated glomerular filtration rate without height in pediatric patients with cancer
  17. Evaluation of thyroid test utilization through analysis of population-level data
  18. Relation of serum γ-glutamyl transferase activity with copper in an adult population
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  20. Automated antinuclear immunofluorescence antibody analysis is a reliable approach in routine clinical laboratories
  21. Infrared analyzers for breast milk analysis: fat levels can influence the accuracy of protein measurements
  22. Hematology and Coagulation
  23. A new approach to define acceptance limits for hematology in external quality assessment schemes
  24. The effects of transport by car on coagulation tests
  25. Combined measurement of factor XIII and D-dimer is helpful for differential diagnosis in patients with suspected pulmonary embolism
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