Salivary androgens in adolescence and their value as a marker of puberty: results from the SCAMP cohort

CONTEXT: Salivary androgens represent non-invasive biomarkers of puberty that may have utility in clinical and population studies. OBJECTIVE: To understand normal age-related variation in salivary sex steroids and demonstrate their correlation to pubertal development in young adolescents. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: School-based cohort study of 1495 adolescents at two time points for collecting saliva samples approximately 2 years apart. OUTCOME MEASURES: The saliva samples were analyzed for five androgens (testosterone, androstenedione (A4), 17-hydroxyprogesterone, 11-ketotestosterone and 11β-hydroxyandrostenedione) using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry; in addition, salivary dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and oestradiol (OE2) were analysed by ELISA. The pubertal staging was self-reported using the Pubertal Development Scale (PDS). RESULTS: In 1236 saliva samples from 903 boys aged between 11 and 16 years, salivary androgens except DHEA exhibited an increasing trend with an advancing age (ANOVA, P < 0.001), with salivary testosterone and A4 concentration showing the strongest correlation (r = 0.55, P < 0.001 and r = 0.48, P < 0.001, respectively). In a subgroup analysis of 155 and 63 saliva samples in boys and girls, respectively, morning salivary testosterone concentrations showed the highest correlation with composite PDS scores and voice-breaking category from PDS self-report in boys (r = 0.75, r = 0.67, respectively). In girls, salivary DHEA and OE2 had negligible correlations with age or composite PDS scores. CONCLUSION: In boys aged 11–16 years, an increase in salivary testosterone and A4 is associated with self-reported pubertal progress and represents valid non-invasive biomarkers of puberty in boys.