Biomedical Research

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of delivering a lecture to 200 students on salivary Immunoglobulin-A (S-IgA), salivary lysozyme (s-lys) and the association of these responses with salivary markers of adrenal activation. From 26 female professors, a total of eight unstimulated saliva samples were collected on two different days, (on a working day with a lecture, and on a working day without a lecture - control). They also completed the trait version of the state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI) to assess the dispositional anxiety on the control day and the state section of the stai fifteen minutes before their lecture and at the same hour on the control day. The STAI-State was significantly higher than the one noted the control day. This STAI score was negatively correlated with s-lys reported just before the lecture. Lecturing resulted in a significant decrease in S-IgA and s-lys concentrations but did not affect the saliva flow rate. These changes appeared to be associated with an increase in the concentrations of the stress markers, alpha-amylase, CgA and cortisol. The mechanism that leads to modify the activity of salivary alpha-amylase, lysozyme and chromogranin-A due to stress is not entirely understood and further investigations are needed to elucidate these mechanisms.

Author(s): Edith Filaire, Alain Massart, Deborah Nourrit, Luis Rama L, Anna Teixeira
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