Measurement of stress hormones is a common objective method for assessment of mental stress. However, the stress of blood sampling alone may also increase stress hormone levels. In the present study, we sampled salivary biomarkers from healthy volunteers under noninvasive conditions and determined t

The relationship between salivary biomarkers and state-trait anxiety inventory score under mental arithmetic stress: a pilot study.

Performance evaluation of salivary amylase activity monitor

Hand-Held Monitor of Sympathetic Nervous System Using Salivary Amylase Activity and Its Validation by Driver Fatigue Assessment

Saliva is increasingly recognised as an attractive diagnostic fluid. The presence of various disease signalling salivary biomarkers that accurately reflect normal and disease states in humans and the sampling benefits compared to blood sampling are some of the reasons for this recognition. This explains the burgeoning research field in assay developments and technological advancements for the detection of various salivary biomarkers to improve clinical diagnosis, management, and treatment. This paper reviews the significance of salivary biomarkers for clinical diagnosis and therapeutic applications, with focus on the technologies and biosensing platforms that have been reported for screening these biomarkers.

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Saliva-Based Biosensors: Noninvasive Monitoring Tool for Clinical Diagnostics

Biosensors are being developed to provide rapid, quantitative, diagnostic information to clinicians in order to help guide patient treatment, without the need for centralised laboratory assays. The success of glucose monitoring is a key example of where technology innovation has met a clinical need at multiple levels – from the pathology laboratory all the way to the patient's home. However, few other biosensor devices are currently in routine use. Here we review the challenges and opportunities regarding the integration of biosensor techniques into body fluid sampling approaches, with emphasis on the point-of-care setting.

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Blood, sweat, and tears: developing clinically relevant protein biosensors for integrated body fluid analysis.

Flow-injection-type biosensor system for salivary amylase activity

The authors have been focusing on the activity of alpha-amylase in saliva (salivary amylase) with the aim of developing a simple quantitative measurement technique to monitor human stress. However, measurement of enzymatic activity required a sufficiently enough volume of substrate and the realization of quantification also required some mechanism to control the reaction time. Based on this concept, a salivary amylase activity monitor consisting of the test strip, the salivary transcription device and an optical analyzer was fabricated. The calibration curve for the salivary amylase activity monitor obtained an R/sup 2/ value of 0.72. It was considered that the monitor could be used for the analysis of salivary amylase activity. In order to evaluate the monitor, salivary amylase activity was measured with a roller coaster ride as a mental stressor. A significant difference between salivary amylase activities were recognized in before the ride and after the ride, and it was confirmed that increasing or decreasing human stress levels could be perceived as rises and falls in salivary amylase activity.

Salivary amylase activity monitor used for stress evaluation

The authors have been focusing on the activity of α-amylase in saliva (salivary amylase) with the aim of developing a simple quantitative measurement technique for monitor human stress. However, the measurement of enzymatic activity required a sufficiently large volume of substrate and the realization of quantification also required some mechanism to control reaction time. Moreover, a measurement method using saliva samples should have the merits of simplicity, the ability to yield instant results and the potential to be used any time. Based on this concept, a salivary amylase activity monitor consisting of the test strip, a salivary transcription device and an optical analyzer was fabricated. The calibration curve for the salivary amylase activity monitor obtained an R 2 value of 0.72. The monitor could be used for the analysis of salivary amylase activity. In order to evaluate the monitor, salivary amylase activity was measured using a videotape of corneal transplant surgery as a mental stressor. A significant difference between salivary amylase activity was recognized between the prestress, midstress and poststress periods, and it was confirmed that increasing or decreasing human stress level could be perceived as increases and decreases in salivary amylase activity.

Test-strip-type salivary amylase activity monitor and its evaluation

In order to estimate human stress levels, it is necessary to use nonivasively measured biological information. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate whether the salivary amylase activity is a usable indicator of stress. The salivary amylase activity was compared with other standard methods for the noninvasive evaluation of stress, such as heart rate and cortisol concentration in saliva. Fifteen normally healthy subjects were made to pedal an ergometer as a means to induce physical stress, under constant load conditions, following which their heart rates were measured.Before and during this workload, saliva samples were collected in order to measure the salivary amylase activity and the cortisol concentration. It was found that there is a positive correlation between the heart rate and the physical stress. Also, the changes in salivary amylase activity showed a similarity with changes in the heart rate caused by the workload. Subsequently, the salivary amylase activity of five subjects was measured over a month period. The results indicated that for each individual there may exist a stable level for the salivary amylase activity. The studies suggest that the monitoring of salivary amylase activity could be used as an efficient index to noninvasively measure the stress.

Masashi Kanemaru

Papers

Performance evaluation of salivary amylase activity monitor

Flow-injection-type biosensor system for salivary amylase activity

Salivary amylase activity monitor used for stress evaluation

Test-strip-type salivary amylase activity monitor and its evaluation

The Influence of Physical Stress on Amylase Activity in Human Saliva