Cytokine concentrations in saliva vs. plasma at rest and in response to intense exercise in adolescent athletes

Background: Salivary measures are advantageous in conducting large paediatric studies involving repeated measures. However, research measuring salivary cytokines in youth is limited. Aim: Compare salivary with plasma concentrations of inflammatory cytokines at rest and following exercise in adolescent swimmers (21 male, 22 female). Methods: Following collection of resting saliva and blood samples, participants performed a bout of high-intensity interval swimming, with samples taken again similar to 15 min post-swimming and analysed for interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin 10 (IL-10), and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). Results: Resting IL-10 was significantly lower, while IL-6 and TNF-alpha were significantly higher in saliva compared with plasma. IL-10 increased from pre- to post-swimming in plasma, but less so in saliva (51% vs. 29%; p = 0.02). TNF-alpha decreased post-swimming in saliva, but not in plasma (-27% vs -1%; p = 0.01). IL-6 decreased post-swimming in saliva compared with plasma (-21% vs. -3%; p = 0.06). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) revealed no association between salivary and plasma IL-6 and TNF-alpha, while IL-10 showed a weak correlation only at rest (ICC = 0.39; p = 0.05). Conclusions: Differences in concentrations and exercise responses, along with weak correlations, suggest that salivary cytokine levels are not an accurate representation of blood cytokine levels, and should not be used as a surrogate measure in paediatric studies.

Automated summary

The study compared salivary and plasma concentrations of inflammatory cytokines in adolescent swimmers. The results showed discrepancies in cytokine levels and responses to exercise, indicating that salivary cytokine levels are not an accurate representation of blood cytokine levels and should not be used as a surrogate measure in pediatric studies.