Salivary Nitric Oxide, a Biomarker for Stress and Anxiety?

OBJECTIVE To investigate if salivary nitrate correlates to the daily psychological stress and anxiety in a group of human subjects. METHODS The convenient sample recruitment method was employed; data from seventy three subjects were analyzed. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) inventories were used to determine stress and anxiety scores respectively. Salivary nitric oxide was measured through nitrate (NOx) levels using the Griess reaction method. RESULTS Although stress and anxiety were correlated. No significant correlation exists between salivary nitrate and daily psychological stress and anxiety in the study's participants. CONCLUSION While all previous studies focused NOx levels in acute stress models. This is the first study to investigate the correlation between salivary nitrates and daily psychological stress and anxiety. Although stress and anxiety were correlated, there is no correlation between salivary nitrates and daily psychological stress and anxiety. Further studies are required to investigate this correlation using other biological samples such as plasma.