title: Salivary alpha amylase levels in youths with anxiety disorders.
abstract: It is suggested that salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) may be a marker of sympathoadrenal medullary system activity. Thus, it can be a possible relationship sAA and anxiety disorders. The aim of this study is to investigate sAA in children and adolescents with anxiety disorders and healthy controls. Thirty drug-free youths, aged 8-16 years, who were diagnosed as any anxiety disorders and 36 healthy controls with similar socio-demographic characteristics were included in this study. The sAA was found to be significantly increased in anxiety group compared to control group. However, there was no correlation between sAA and any anxiety scores of the scales. Present study suggested that anxiety disorders in youths may be associated with increased autonomic activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Maltepe University, Feyzullah Caddesi No:39, 34845 Maltepe, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: oyorbik@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ozgur
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yorbik
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Bakirkoy Prof Dr Mazhar Osman Training and Research Hospital for Psychiatry, Neurology and Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Caner
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mutlu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, GATA Teaching Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ozlem
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ozturk
authors.affiliation: Developmental Psychology Program, Department of Guidance and Psychological Counseling, Faculty of Education, Maltepe University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Derya Koc
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Altinay
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, GATA Haydarpasa Teaching Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ilhan Asya
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Tanju
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, GATA Teaching Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ismail
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kurt
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000201:enzymology*; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000201:enzymology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012463:Saliva / Q000201:enzymology*; D055291:Salivary alpha-Amylases / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D055291:Salivary alpha-Amylases
keywords: Adolescents; Anxiety disorders; Autonomic activity; Children; Salivary alpha amylase