Determination of Testosterone and Cortisol Levels in Sera and Saliva of Women Patients withOvarian Tumors (Case – Control Study)

It has been reported that measurements of salivary hormone levels are of clinical importance if they reflect the hormone level in the serum, or if a constant correlation exists between salivary and serum hormone levels (1) . The goal of the present study was to test the possibility of using vibration in the cortisol and testosterone levels in saliva as an indication of that which take place in serum of patient with ovarian tumors. Women patients with benign and malignant ovarian tumors (n=16) aged from (20-39) years attending various hospitals in Baghdad were included in the present study. Age matched healthy women (n=8) were also included to be used as normal control. The study involved measurement of the level of testosterone (T) and cortisol (C) in the serum and saliva specimen of the above studied groups. The Anabolic/Catabolic Index (ACI), which was represented by T/C ratio, was estimated in these specimens. The results showed no variation in testosterone levels (p>0.01), while highly significant increase in cortisol levels (p<0.001), and a significant decrease of T/C ratio (p<0.05) were found upon malignancy. Out of the correlation results that have been drawn between the sera and saliva levels of different biochemical parameters included in the present study, a conclusion can be achieved that is saliva can not be used as a test fluid instead of sera as far as the patients and the different parameters included in the present study are concerned