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[Kallikrein concentration in mixed saliva after contraceptive administration or postmenopausal hormone replacement]
Background:
The aim of our study was to evaluate the premise (Jenzano 1992) that estrogen influences the female mixed saliva kallikrein level (MSK).
Methods:
We estimated the MSK level from woman between the ages of 17 and 39 with (n = 20) and without (20) contraceptive medication (at least an one year treatment) and postmenopausal women between the ages of 47 and 65 with (n = 20) and without (n = 22) hormonal substitution. Kallikrein was estimated by means of the cleavage of the chromogenic tripeptide Val-Leu-Arg-p-nitranilide (SIGMA) and absorbance measuring of p-nitraniline at 405 nm.
Results:
A Wilcoxon test was conducted for statistical analysis. The MSK level decreases significantly (p = 0.000) under contraceptive medication (estrogen component: synthetic ethinyl-estrogen). However the MSK level of postmenopausal women showed no significant alteration (p = 0.158) after hormone substitution (estrogen component: natural estrogen). The finding may be due to the weaker effect of the estrogen used in post-menopausal hormone therapy.
Conclusions:
Our results demonstrate that estrogenic substances affect salivary kallikrein levels.