SERUM AND SALIVA CORTISOL RELATIONS IN ADOLESCENTS DURING PREGNANCY AND THE EARLY POSTPARTUM PERIOD

The purpose of this investigation was to examine: (1) relations betwee n serum and saliva cortisol in adolescents in pregnancy and early post partum and (2) short-term consistency of serum and saliva cortisol acr oss three samples, 20 minutes apart, as well as the long-term consiste ncy from pregnancy to early postpartum. Pregnant adolescents (n = 40), ages 14 to 19 years, were enrolled in this study. Subjects were seen at 20 weeks gestation or earlier (T1), 34-36 weeks gestation (T2), and 2-3 weeks postpartum (T3). Blood samples were drawn at T1 and T3, at 0, 20, and 40 minutes. Saliva samples were collected across the same 4 0-minute period at T1, T2, and T3. Spearman rho (r(s)) correlation coe fficients between serum and saliva ranged from 0.72 to 0.77 (T1), and 0.42 to 0.60 (T3) (p less-than-or-equal-to 0.05). Short-term consisten cy between serum cortisol samples was 0.86-0.97 at T1 and 0.60-0.82 at T3. Short-term consistency for saliva cortisol samples was 0.70-0.96 at T1, 0.91-0.95 at T2, and 0.64-0.89 at T3. Long-term consistency (T1 to T3) for serum and saliva cortisol was low. Individual differences as well as dramatic changes in the endocrine environment in pregnancy and the early postpartum period may explain the more moderate serum-sa liva correlations in the postpartum period.