Peer-Reviewed Studies of Salivary Sex Hormone Testing
2021 – COVID-19: Expert review finds multiple links with hormones
Written by James Kingsland on May 25, 2021 & Fact checked by Rita Ponce, Ph.D.
Intriguingly, clinical trials suggest that drugs for treating prostate conditions and male hair loss, which reduce the production of DHT* or block the hormone’s receptors**, may speed the recovery of people with COVID-19.
Leading endocrinologists from Spain, Turkey, and Italy have reviewed the latest evidence on male hormones and several other hormone-related risk factors for COVID-19 in a position statement for the European Society of Endocrinology.’
Read the full transcript here – Primary article | Targeting transcript | **Hormone receptor blocking | Statement | Research | *Early Antiandrogen Therapy
2021 – Sex hormone levels in females of different ages suffering from depression
– There are only a few studies on sex hormones in females of different ages suffering from depression, and their conclusions are not uniform until now. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between the severity of depression in females and factors such as sex hormones and differences in sex hormone levels in females of different ages, exploring variations after treatment.
Lei, R., Sun, Y., Liao, J. et al. Sex hormone levels in females of different ages suffering from depression. BMC Women’s Health 21, 215 (2021). | Published 22 May 2021
2012 – Salivary hormone measurement using LC/MS/MS: specific and patient-friendly tool for assessment of endocrine function.
– Saliva has recently been attracting attention as a patient-friendly available bio-fluid and an alternative to serum/plasma for hormone tests. LC coupled with atmospheric pressure ionization-MS/MS, especially electrospray ionization (ESI)-MS/MS, has been recently valued as a highly specific method in the analysis of salivary hormones. In this article, LC/ESI-MS/MS assays for salivary hormones are overviewed according to the papers that have been published during the last 5 years. Practical derivatization to enhance the detectabilities [sic] of hormones in ESI-MS/MS is also discussed, because a major disadvantage of using saliva is low hormone concentrations.
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokyo University of Science, Noda, Japan. PMID: 22975487
2009 – Salivary sex hormone measurement in a national, population-based study of older adults
– This study was “the first large, population-based study of older adults to measure salivary estradiol, progesterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and, in women, testosterone.”
The researchers analysed self-collected saliva specimens from 2,772 U.S. men and women, from 57-85 years old.
Conclusion: “These data demonstrate a high cooperation rate with in-home salivary specimen collection from older adults and good validity of sex hormone measurements.”
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2009 Nov;64 Suppl 1:i94-105. Epub 2009 Feb 9.Salivary sex hormone measurement in a national, population-based study of older adults. Gavrilova N, Lindau ST. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Chicago, 5841 S. Maryland Avenue, MC2050, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. PMID 19204073
2009 – Simultaneous determination of salivary testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone using LC-MS/MS
– The researchers measured testosterone and DHEA levels in saliva using the liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-ESI-MS/MS) method to determine if hormone levels were sufficiently accurate to screen for late-onset hypogonadism (LOH), i.e., insufficient testosterone.
Conclusion: Saliva testing was found to be 98.5-101.8% accurate in measuring testosterone and DHEA levels, and “thus, the developed method has satisfactory applicability in the diagnosis and medication for LOH.”
J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2009 Sep 1;877(25):2615-23. Epub 2008 Nov 5. Simultaneous determination of salivary testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone using LC-MS/MS: Method development and evaluation of applicability for diagnosis and medication for late-onset hypogonadism. Shibayama Y, Higashi T, Shimada K, Odani A, Mizokami A, Konaka H, Koh E, Namiki M. Division of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa 920-1192, Japan. PMID 19010090[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner]
2007 – Salivary testosterone: a reliable approach to the diagnosis of male hypogonadism
– The researchers studied whether measurements of salivary testosterone (Sal-T) matched measurements of serum (blood) free testosterone. They compared the Sal-T and serum testosterone levels in 20 men with hypogonadism (insufficient testosterone) and 52 men with normal testosterone levels.
Conclusion: “The results support the inclusion of this biomarker [salivary testosterone] as a noninvasive approach in the diagnosis of male androgen deficiency.”
Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2007 Nov;67(5):656-62. Salivary testosterone: a reliable approach to the diagnosis of male hypogonadism. Arregger AL, Contreras LN, Tumilasci OR, Aquilano DR, Cardoso EM. Endocrine Research Department, Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas A. Lanari, School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina. PMID 17953627
2006 – Validation of salivary testosterone as a screening test for male hypogonadism
– The researchers performed two studies of saliva testing to screen for male hypogonadism, i.e., insufficient testosterone levels.
The first study of 1,454 men found expected age-related testosterone variance by age.
The second study found that “salivary testosterone was strongly correlated with bioavailable testosterone, … calculated free testosterone, … and total testosterone.”
Conclusion: “These studies support the use of salivary testosterone as an acceptable assay for screening for hypogonadism.”
Aging Male. 2006 Sep;9(3):165-9. Validation of salivary testosterone as a screening test for male hypogonadism. Morley JE, Perry HM 3rd, Patrick P, Dollbaum CM, Kells JM. Division of Geriatric Medicine, Saint Louis University, Missouri 63104, USA. PMID 17050116
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