title: Salivary cortisol and melatonin levels in children with frequent episodic tension-type headache do not differ from healthy children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the differences in cortisol and melatonin concentrations between children with frequent episodic tension-type headache (FETTH) and healthy children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-four children, 12 boys/32 girls (age: 9 ± 2 years) with FETTH associated to peri-cranial tenderness and 44 age- and sex- matched healthy children participated. Both salivary cortisol and melatonin concentrations were collected from non-stimulated saliva following standardized guidelines. A headache diary for 4 weeks was used for collecting intensity, frequency and duration of headache.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant differences for cortisol (t = -0.431; p = 0.668), and melatonin (z = -1.564; p = 0.118) concentrations and salivary flow rate (z = -1.190; p = 0.234) were found between both groups. No significant effect of age or gender was found. In addition, no significant association between cortisol-melatonin concentrations and between cortisol-melatonin concentrations and headache clinical parameters were found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that children with FETTH, at first instance, do not present deficits in the secretion of these cortisol and melatonin. Prospective longitudinal studies are needed to further elucidate the direction of current findings, particularly the synchronism of cortisol and melatonin and the course of the headache.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Inés
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rivas-Martínez
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ambite-Quesada
authors.forename: César
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fernández-de-las-Peñas
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arroyo-Morales
authors.forename: Daniel M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Fernández-Mayoralas
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Linares-García-Valdecasas
authors.forename: Maria A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Palomar-Gallego
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D008550:Melatonin / Q000032:analysis*; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D018781:Tension-Type Headache / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D008550:Melatonin; D006854:Hydrocortisone