Salivary alpha amylase activity in pregnant and non-Pregnant females

Abstract

Introduction: Pregnancy demands various physiological changes to be adapted by the body for growing fetus. Stress of pregnancy gives rise to altered hormonal release from hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) and sympatho-adrenal-medullary (SAM) axis. Present study aimed to estimate salivary amylase activity in pregnant and non-pregnant females. Materials and Methods: In this cross sectional study we have selected 65 pregnant females and compared with 22 non-pregnant females. Pregnant females were grouped into three according to trimesters. Non stimulated saliva sample was collected from study participants. Salivary amylase activity was measured by coupled enzymatic assay. Results: Significant increase in salivary amylase in pregnant as compared to non-pregnant females was observed (p=0.019). There was significant difference in salivary amylase between groups of pregnant females (p<0.001). There was no statistically significant relation between salivary amylase and number of pregnancies (p=0.08). Conclusion: Increased salivary amylase in pregnancy can be due to increased physical and physiological stress in pregnancy. Salivary amylase was studied as a marker of stress. Stress leads to increased sympathetic activity which in turn leads to increased salivary amylase. Saliva collection is non-invasive technique, easy to perform, less skillful and can be done repeatedly so it can be easily used for monitoring increased sympathetic activity.