Salivary Diagnostic for Monitoring Strenuous Exercise—A Pilot Study in a Cohort of Male Ultramarathon Runners

Josephin Borchers, Cordula Leonie Merle (), Deborah Diana Schöneborn, Lea Ronja Lyko, Thomas Thouet, Bernd Wolfarth, Tanja Kottmann, Carmen Scheibenbogen, Jeannot Zimmer, Sven Diederich, Katrin Bauer, Ulrich Sack, Gerhard Schmalz, Dirk Ziebolz and Jan Wüstenfeld
Additional contact information
Josephin Borchers: Department of Cariology, Endodontology and Periodontology, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
Cordula Leonie Merle: Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, UKR University Hospital Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
Deborah Diana Schöneborn: Department of Sports Medicine, Charité University Medicine, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Lea Ronja Lyko: Department of Sports Medicine, Charité University Medicine, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Thomas Thouet: Department of Sports Medicine, Charité University Medicine, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Bernd Wolfarth: Department of Sports Medicine, Charité University Medicine, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Tanja Kottmann: CRO Dr. med Kottmann GmbH & Co. KG, 59077 Hamm, Germany
Carmen Scheibenbogen: Institute for Medical Immunology, Charité University Medicine, 13353 Berlin, Germany
Jeannot Zimmer: SYNLAB Medizinisches Versorgungszentrum Berlin GmbH, 10828 Berlin, Germany
Sven Diederich: Medicover Berlin-Mitte, 10117 Berlin, Germany
Katrin Bauer: Institute of Clinical Immunology, Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
Ulrich Sack: Institute of Clinical Immunology, Medical Faculty, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
Gerhard Schmalz: Department of Cariology, Endodontology and Periodontology, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
Dirk Ziebolz: Department of Cariology, Endodontology and Periodontology, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
Jan Wüstenfeld: Department of Sports Medicine, Charité University Medicine, 10115 Berlin, Germany

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 23, 1-14

Abstract: Intense physical stress, such as that in ultramarathon running, affects the immune system. For monitoring in sports medicine, non-invasive methods, e.g., salivary analysis, are of interest. This pilot cohort study aimed to assess changes in salivary parameters in response to an ultramarathon. The results were compared to blood parameters. Male, healthy finishers ( n = 9, mean age: 48 ± 8.8 years, mean height: 1.8 ± 0.1 m, mean weight: 72.5 ± 7.2 kg, mean BMI: 23.5 ± 1.9 kg/cm²) of a 160 km ultramarathon were included. Saliva and blood samples were collected at three time points: T1 (baseline), T2 (shortly after the ultramarathon) and T3 (after recovery). In saliva, cortisol, testosterone, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-α, albumin, IgA, α-amylase, aMMP-8, and neopterin were assessed via ELISA. In blood, cortisol, testosterone, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF-α, blood cell counts, procalcitonin, CRP, osmolality, albumin, and α-amylase were analyzed. The statistical evaluation comprised longitudinal testing and cross-sectional testing between saliva and blood using ratios of T2 and T3 to baseline values. Various parameters in saliva and blood changed in response to the ultramarathon. Comparing blood and saliva, the longitudinal changes of testosterone ( p = 0.02) and α-amylase ( p = 0.03) differed significantly. Despite the limitations of the study, it underlines that saliva is an interesting option for comprehensive monitoring in sports medicine and necessitates further studies.

Keywords: endurance; saliva; immunoglobulin; inflammation; cytokines; biomarkers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/23/16110/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/23/16110/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:23:p:16110-:d:991061

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().