title: Salivary Stress-Related Responses in Tinnitus: A Preliminary Study in Young Male Subjects with Tinnitus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This preliminary study examined if baseline measures of stress-related biomarkers as measured by salivary secretions of specific autonomic [measured by salivary α-amylase (sAA)], endocrine (measured by salivary cortisol), and immune (measured by salivary neopterin) responses are greater in male subjects with tinnitus in response to an induced-stress task.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty male subjects with no significant hearing loss, 10 with tinnitus, and 10 without tinnitus were enrolled in this study.Salivary secretions were collected before and after the induced stress task at four different time intervals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  sAA levels were lower in the tinnitus group in comparison to subjects without tinnitus, suggesting impaired sympathetic activity in the subjects with tinnitus although these levels remained stable throughout the stress experiment.While no significant effects could be obtained for salivary cortisol or neopterin, salivary neopterin levels were trending toward significance over all measurements. Behavioral measures of stress were found to correlate negatively with measures of sAA and salivary neopterin.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study suggest impaired stress-related sAA mechanisms in male subjects with tinnitus, as evidenced by the different stress reactions induced in the endocrine system (as measured by salivary cortisol) and the immune system (as measured by salivary neopterin).
authors.affiliation: Lab for Clinical and Integrative Neuroscience, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas Dallas, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Ola A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Alsalman
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tucker
authors.affiliation: Lab for Clinical and Integrative Neuroscience, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas Dallas, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vanneste
keywords: salivary alpha amylase; salivary cortisol; salivary neopterin; stress-related responses; tinnitus