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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

Collecting Saliva and Measuring Salivary Cortisol and Alpha-amylase in Frail Community Residing Older Adults via Family Caregivers
Published on: December 18, 2013
Saliva DHEA and cortisol responses following short-term corticosteroid intake
L Jollin1, R Thomasson, B Le Panse
1EA 4248 Université d'Orléans, Orléans, France.
Background:
Given the high correlation between the serum and saliva hormone values demonstrated at rest, saliva provides a convenient non-invasive way to determine dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and cortisol concentrations. However, to our knowledge, pituitary adrenal recovery following short-term suppression with corticosteroids has never been investigated in saliva. The aim of this study was therefore to examine how steroid hormone concentrations in saliva are influenced by short-term corticosteroid administration.
Materials And Methods:
We studied saliva DHEA and cortisol concentrations before, during (day 1-day 7) and following (day 8-day 16) the administration of oral therapeutic doses of prednisone (50 mg daily for 1 week) in 11 healthy recreationally trained women.
Results:
Mean saliva DHEA and cortisol concentrations decreased immediately after the start of prednisone treatment (P < 0.05). Three days after concluding prednisone administration, both saliva DHEA and cortisol had returned to pretreatment levels.
Conclusions:
These data are consistent with previous studies on blood samples and suggest that non-invasive saliva samples may offer a practical approach to assessing pituitary-adrenal function continuously during and after short-term corticosteroid therapy.
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