Saliva DHEA and cortisol responses following short-term corticosteroid intake

Background Given the high correlation between the serum and saliva hormone values demonstrated at rest, saliva provides a convenient non-invasive way to determine dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and cortisol concentrations. However, to our knowledge, pituitary adrenal recovery following short-term suppression with corticosteroids has never been investigated in saliva. The aim of this study was therefore to examine how steroid hormone concentrations in saliva are influenced by short-term corticosteroid administration. Materials and methods We studied saliva DHEA and cortisol concentrations before, during (day 1‐day 7) and following (day 8‐day 16) the administration of oral therapeutic doses of prednisone (50 mg daily for 1 week) in 11 healthy recreationally trained women. Results Mean saliva DHEA and cortisol concentrations decreased immediately after the start of prednisone treatment (P <0 AE05). Three days after concluding prednisone administration, both saliva DHEA and cortisol had returned to pretreatment levels. Conclusions These data are consistent with previous studies on blood samples and suggest that non-invasive saliva samples may offer a practical approach to assessing pituitary-adrenal function continuously during and after short-term corticosteroid therapy.