Original articleEffect of competition on stress salivary biomarkers in elite and amateur female adolescent inline skatersEffet d’une compétition sur les biomarqueurs salivaires du stress chez des patineuses à roues adolescentes d’élite et amatrices
Introduction
Taking part in a competition has been confirmed to cause physiological and psychological changes [1], [2]. These changes may influence competitive stress, and some researchers have reported that long-term exercise can lead to changes in the emergence of stress in adult athletes. Competitive stress causes performance drop by altering homeostasis. This phenomenon signifies that physiological and psychological changes alter performance by affecting the concentration of some hormones and other brain functions [3]. The interaction between functional ability and competitive stress affecting physiological and psychological changes is an important matter in athletes.
One way to measure competitive stress is to examine salivary composition changes. Sampling from saliva is very popular because it is non-invasive [3]. Researchers have shown that salivary composition changes in response to stress [4], [5], [6], [7], [8] and had a strong association with their serum concentrations [9], [10], [11]. In response to physical activity [12], such as during competitions [1], [13], the activities of the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) and the Sympathetic Adrenal Medullary (SAM) axes increase to maintain homeostasis [14], [15]. In addition, significant association between the salivary sAA protein and training outcomes was suggested to underline its potential as non-invasive marker of training status in professional athletes [16]. Activation of the HPA axis results in secretion of cortisol, which increases in response to competitive stress [1], [2], [8]. In response to golf [17] and soccer [18] competitions, the concentrations of salivary cortisol in starters and amateur individuals have been reported to increase; salivary cortisol concentrations are also higher during competition than during an exercise session. Other findings suggest that cortisol levels are higher in winning athletes than in losers of competitions [19]. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is another marker secreted by the adrenal cortex. The DHEA-to-cortisol ratio can be calculated by measurement [20], indicating catabolic/anabolic balance. DHEA notably demonstrates adrenal cortex activation. Therefore, investigating the changes in DHEA concentrations is beneficial to understand the catabolic/anabolic balance in the adrenal cortex.
In addition, the SAM axis activity in response to competitive stress leads to the increase in salivary alpha amylase (sAA) activity [1], [7], [21]. The measurement of sAA activity is significant because this response to stress apparently occurs much quicker than that of cortisol [22], [23] and presents a close association with lactic acid threshold [24]. However, contradictory findings result from differences in protocols used when studying sAA activity in response to competitions and physical activities. To confirm such discrepancies, two studies have notably reported almost identical results by using the same methodology [25], [26]. Salivary total protein can also be used as an evidence of net changes in salivary proteins, particularly for sAA, to determine whether the changes are in response to athletic activities or consequences of an increase in saliva concentrations. Numerous studies have considered the changes in sAA, cortisol, and DHEA in response to sports competitions and physical activities. However, their conclusions are debatable, and in some cases, little information is available. The mechanism involved in these changes is especially important in individual sports, such as skating, which needs high concentrations of the aforementioned biomarkers. Therefore, the present study designed to analyse the effect of competition on stress salivary biomarkers (sAA, cortisol, DHEA) in elite or amateur female adolescent inline skaters.
Section snippets
Participants
A total of 18 female adolescent skaters, including 9 elite skaters (who have previously participated in national and international competitions and have an average experience of 4 years) and 9 amateur skaters (who volunteered as first-time participants in an official competition), participated in this study. The University ethics committee approved the experimental protocol with ethics reference number 9801.290. Each participant was informed of the study's purposes before they signed their
Salivary Cortisol
Cortisol concentrations in the elite and amateur groups are presented in Fig. 2. Significant differences in free cortisol concentrations (F1.77, 14.09 = 17.46, P = 0.0001) within the elite group were observed throughout the five measurement stages. Bonferroni correction showed that free cortisol concentrations 1 h before and pre-competition were significantly higher, with 13.7- and 4.5-fold increases, respectively, than that during rest day in the elite group. No significant changes were observed in
Discussion
The results of this study revealed that the baseline free cortisol concentrations in the elite group were consistently higher than those in the amateur group. Nevertheless, some researchers believe that the existence of this competitive stress improves the performance [27]. The present study also showed that the adrenal cortex activity in the elite group was higher than that in the amateur group. This point is very challenging and contradicts some previous findings that reported higher cortisol
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, the non-invasive nature of utilizing salivary composition in research has offered considerable approaches as biomarkers. Investigating these biomarkers and the consistency of their changes with respect to important criteria, such as lactic acid and heart rate changes, validates their use. For instance, lactic acid measurements from a lactometer, heart rate monitoring, or the use of valid criteria, such as rate of perceived exertion, can obtain information on athletic stress. In
Disclosure of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interest.
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