Assessment of dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) and cortisol levels in saliva and their correlation to cervical vertebrae maturation method in males and females at different growth stages: a clinical study

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this in-vivo study was to assess the salivary dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) and cortisol levels, and their correlation to the Cervical Vertebrae Maturation method (CVM) in males and females at pre-pubertal, pubertal and post-pubertal growth stages. METHODS: 48 patients (24 males, 24 females) who were to undergo routine orthodontic treatment were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Then subjects were grouped according to CVM stages, using lateral cephalogram, in pre-pubertal, pubertal and post-pubertal groups. Unstimulated saliva from the selected subjects was collected. DHEAS and cortisol levels in the salivary samples were estimated by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Then they were compared to Cervical Vertebrae Maturation Method stages. One-way ANOVA test followed by Tukey’s post-hoc test was used to compare the salivary DHEAS and cortisol levels between different CVM stages in males and females. Independent Student t-test was used to compare the mean salivary DHEAS and cortisol levels between different males and females in each CVM stage. RESULT: There was a progressive increase in salivary DHEAS and cortisol concentration as skeletal maturation progressed from CVM stages 1 and 2, CVM stages 3 and 4, reaching the highest value at CVM stages 5 and 6. Their levels were higher in males than females. CONCLUSION: The salivary DHEAS and cortisol levels can be useful as a potential indicator of skeletal maturation, to aid in the assessment of pubertal status.