title: Feasibility of testing three salivary stress biomarkers in relation to naturalistic traffic noise exposure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Stress dependent alterations of the salivary biomarkers alpha-amylase (sAA), salivary chromogranin A (sCgA) and salivary cortisol (sC) have been reported in numerous studies recently. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the feasibility of testing sAA, sCgA and sC in relation to naturalistic traffic noise exposure in order to monitor a direct stress response in a laboratory setup.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of twenty study participants were exposed to binaurally recorded naturalistic traffic noise samples containing 75 dB (L(A,)eq) for 20 minutes via a loudspeaker system. Saliva was collected directly before and after defined exposure to naturalistic traffic noise. Determination of sAA was performed enzymatically on a Hitachi 912 laboratory analyzer, sCgA was determined by ELISA technique and sC was determined using a RIA assay.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was a significant increase of sAA and sC concentrations after traffic noise exposure (p=0.045; p=0.01), whereas for sCgA this was not observed (p=0.48). Measuring of sAA and sC appear to be feasible to investigate direct stress effects in relation to naturalistic traffic noise exposure in a laboratory setup. Considering the small sample size of this pilot study, these observations need to be further proved in a larger explorative study.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hygiene, Microbiology and Environmental Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Jasmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cik
authors.forename: Egon
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Marth
authors.forename: Brigitte I
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Santner
authors.forename: Eugen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gallasch
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lackner
authors.forename: Reinhard B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Raggam
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D053379:Chromogranin A / Q000378:metabolism*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012463:Saliva / Q000201:enzymology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D055815:Young Adult; D000516:alpha-Amylases / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D053379:Chromogranin A; D000516:alpha-Amylases; D006854:Hydrocortisone