title: The utility of salivary testosterone and cortisol concentration measures for assessing the stress responses of junior athletes during a sporting competition.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study examined the utility of salivary testosterone (T) and cortisol (C) concentration measures for assessing the acute stress responses of junior athletes during a sporting competition.
  
  
  METHODS
  Paired capillary blood and saliva samples were taken from 71 junior athletes (45 males, 26 females) before and after a simulated Olympic weightlifting competition. The concentration measures of salivary T and C were referenced against blood total T (TT) and C (TC) concentrations. All hormones were tested by immunoassay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The competition promoted an increase in the blood TT concentrations of the male (10.1%±18.7%) and female (12.9%±19.9%) athletes (P<.05), with TC also rising in females (37.5%±69%) and tending to increase in males (23.2%±56.1%). No significant changes in salivary T or C were identified. Locally-weighted regression revealed that salivary T was strongly related to blood TT in males (r2=.84), but not females (r2=-.15), whereas salivary C was moderately related to blood TC in both sexes (r2=.43, r2=.48), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A short, high-intensity competition promoted a predictable stress-induced rise in blood TT and TC concentrations. We observed no hormonal stress responses in saliva under the current format, which could be explained by individual variability and blood-saliva differences in hormone kinetics. Still, the salivary T and C measures did show a moderate to strong ability to track individual blood TT (males only) and TC (both sexes) concentrations in a young athletic cohort across a broad physiological range. Recommendations for researchers and practitioners are presented.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sport-National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Blair T
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4929-9456
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Crewther
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sport-National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Zbigniew
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Obmiński
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sport-National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Orysiak
authors.affiliation: Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Emad A S
authors.initials: EAS
authors.lastname: Al-Dujaili
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D013739:Testosterone / Q000032:analysis*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone; D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: androgen; binding proteins; glucocorticoid; stress; validation