Background: Xerostomia is known as dry mouth is due to inadequate saliva in either quantity of flow or quality of saliva. The present study was conducted to evaluate salivary cortisol level and salivary flow in patients with xerostomia and to find any relation with anxiety and depression. Materials & Methods: This study was conducted in department of Oral Medicine and Radiology in year 2012. It comprised of 30 patients (study group) (group I) with subjective symptoms of dry mouth and 30 control subjects (control group) (group II). All the subjects were divided into 3 age groups. Group I - <30 years, group II - 31-40 years and group III - >40 years of age. Stimulated and unstimulated saliva was collected and measured for the concentration of cortisol in the saliva (μg/dl) by using a salivary cortisol enzyme immunoassay kit with a lower sensitivity of 0.36 μg/dl. The values were recorded and subjected to statistical analysis. P value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: The present study consisted of 60 subjects which were divided into group I (30) (study) and group II (control) (30). The present study consisted of 15 males and 45 females. The difference was significant (P- 0.04). The mean cortisol level in unstimulated saliva is group I was 2.31 μg/dl and in group II was 1.86 μg/dl. The difference was non significant (P>0.05). The mean cortisol level in stimulated saliva is group I was 1.78 μg/dl and in group II was 1.52 μg/dl. The difference was non significant (P>0.05). The volume of unstimulated saliva in group I was 0.62 ml/min and in group II it was 1.86 ml/min. The difference was non significant (P>0.05). The volume of stimulated saliva in group I was 1.84 ml/min and in group II it was 3.62 ml/min. The difference was non significant (P>0.05). Conclusion: There was no statistical difference in unstimulated and stimulated salivary cortisol level and volume of unstimulated and stimulated saliva in both groups. Salivary cortisol measurement may be useful in detecting stress related disorders.
Key words: cortisol, stimulated saliva, unstimulated saliva