Increased salivary chromogranin A in women with severe negative mood states in the premenstrual phase

The present study investigated whether salivary chromogranin A (CgA), a psychological stress marker associated with sympathetic nervous system activity, changes during the menstrual cycle in women with different degrees of premenstrual psychoemotional symptoms. Forty-five women (28.6 +/- 1.3 years) with regular menstrual cycles participated in this study. Salivary CgA and cortisol were measured during the follicular and late-luteal phases. The authors used the Profile of Mood State (POMS) to assess current mood states of subjects in each menstrual phase and divided the subjects into three groups depending on increase of total mood disturbance (TMD), a global measure of affective states of POMS from the follicular to the late-luteal phase: Low (4.1 +/- 0.7%), Middle (18.7 +/- 1.2%) and High (51.7 +/- 7.4%). Results showed no intramenstrual cycle differences in salivary CgA in the Low and Middle groups. Women in the High group, in contrast, had a significantly higher level of salivary CgA in the late-luteal phase compared to that of the follicular phase. Additionally, salivary CgA level significantly and positively correlated with TMD and four emotional subscales: tension-anxiety, depression-dejection, anger-hostility and confusion in the late-luteal phase. No intergroup or menstrual-cycle difference occurred in the salivary cortisol. This study indicates a significant late-luteal increase in salivary CgA, reflecting an increase of sympathetic nerve activity in women who experience a substantial increase (>30%) in a cluster of negative psychoemotional symptoms premenstrually. Furthermore, salivary CgA, as opposed to salivary cortisol, could serve as a reliable noninvasive biomarker to more sensitively evaluate neuropsychophysiological fluctuations during the menstrual cycle.