Determinación de los niveles de cortisol salival en una muestra de sujetos de Santiago de Chile

Abstract

Background: Salivary cortisol measurement is recommended as a screening measure when a Cushing Syndrome is suspected. The proposed cut-off point for a probable diagnosis is 0.16 ug/dL. Aim: To determine salivary cortisol concentrations during the day in patients with and without Cushing syndrome and with depression. Material and Methods: Salivary cortisol was measured by competitive enzyme immuno assay (EIA), in samples obtained at 8:00, 15:00 and 23:00 h in 78 patients without Cushing syndrome, aged 40 ± 15 years (28 males), 30 patients with depression aged 40 ± 12 years (nine males) and four females with Cushing syndrome aged 42 ± 17 years. Results: Salivary cortisol was higher among patients with Cushing syndrome than the rest of patients. A salivary cortisol over the cut-off value of 0.16 ug/dL was found in 42% of subjects without Cushing syndrome and in 33% of patients with depression. Median values among patients without Cushing syndrome, depression and with Cushing syndrome were 0.21 (range < 0.1-1.42), 0.2 (range 0,12-0.9) and 0.58 (range 0.37-1.1) ug/dL, respectively. Conclusions: Salivary cortisol measured by EIA method was higher among patients with Cushing syndrome but there was a great overlap with values obtained in subjects without the syndrome.