Development of protocols for the application of salivary steroid analysis to field conditions

The simple and noninvasive nature of sample collection for salivary steroid assay makes this technique well suited for anthropological field studies of human reproduction function. In this study, a series of controlled experiments was done to investigate the effects of modifying common clinical sample collection and storage procedures for field use. Matched sets of samples were assayed for four steroids to test the effects of using plastic, rather than glass, collection tubes, of using a stimulant to aid collection, and of storing samples at ambient temperature rather than frozen. Our work confirms the feasibility of collecting samples for salivary steroid assay in field situations, while at the same time emphasizing the importance of considering methodological issues in planning and interpreting such studies. Our results show that it is acceptable to use polystyrene collection tubes and a carefully chosen stimulant to aid collection, and that samples can be stored at ambient temperature in the field when frozen storage is not available. In addition, they demonstrate the necessity for consistency in sample collection and storage procedures.