Salivary Testosterone and Cortisol Changes During a Game in Professional Male Basketball Players

Cabarkapa, D, Eserhaut, DA, Cabarkapa, DV, Philipp, NM, and Fry, AC. Salivary testosterone and cortisol changes during a game in professional male basketball players. J Strength Cond Res 37(8): 1687-1691, 2023-The purpose of this study was to examine acute changes in salivary testosterone (T), cortisol (C), and testosterone-to-cortisol ratio (T/C) during a simulated 5-on-5 basketball game. Seven professional male basketball players volunteered to participate in this study. Repeated-measures analysis design was used to examine changes in hormonal concentrations across 8 testing time points: immediately upon arrival to the gymnasium-baseline (BS); post-warm-up (PW); post-first (P1Q), second (P2Q), third (P3Q), and fourth quarter (P4Q); and 30 (P30) and 60 minutes (P60) postgame. The findings of this study indicate that a simulated 5-on-5 basketball game provoked significant changes in salivary T, C, and T/C. When compared to the BS levels (x & PLUSMN; SD [nmol & BULL;L-1]; 6.72 & PLUSMN; 2.53), salivary C concentration experienced a notable increase P3Q (16.20 & PLUSMN; 7.70) and remained elevated throughout the rest of the sampling periods, with values failing to return to BS levels P60 (11.88 & PLUSMN; 5.58). Conversely, a significant increase in salivary T occurred P1Q (0.76 & PLUSMN; 0.21) when compared to the BS levels (0.58 & PLUSMN; 0.12) and remained elevated up to P30 (0.75 & PLUSMN; 0.20), with values returning to BS levels P60 (0.63 & PLUSMN; 0.14). In addition, despite no significant intragame alterations, T/C exhibited a notable decrease P30 (0.06 & PLUSMN; 0.02) and P60 (0.07 & PLUSMN; 0.04), when compared to BS values (0.10 & PLUSMN; 0.04). Overall, these findings provide additional insight into the physiological stress that basketball players are exposed to during 5-on-5 competitive play and can be used to appropriately adjust and monitor training loads to optimize recovery and on-court basketball performance.

Automated summary

The purpose of this study was to examine acute changes in salivary testosterone (T), cortisol (C), and testosterone-to-cortisol ratio (T/C) during a simulated 5-on-5 basketball game. The findings indicate that the game provoked significant changes in salivary T, C, and T/C, providing insight into the physiological stress basketball players experience during competitive play and aiding in optimizing recovery and performance.