Direct Potentiometric Method for Human Stress Determination

N. Sakač, M. Karnaš and M. Grčić

Abstract
The application of platinum redox electrode for potentiometric determination of salivary amylase activity as a stress biomarker is described. The candidates were divided into two groups, physical activity – medium intensity exercise (ten candidates), and psychical activity – student exam (thirteen candidates). The experimental data were compared with an adapted theoretical model where the sensor and analyte properties were optimized using Solver and the least-squares criterion to fit a theoretical curve into the experimental data set. It was found that, in both groups, the salivary amylase activity had increased after exposure to stress activities. For physical stress, the salivary amylase activity increase was found to be up to 699 %, with a potential difference between the trained and “untrained” candidates’ dependence; and for psychical stress, the salivary amylase activity increase was dispersed in a range from 117 % to 1201 %. Proposed methodology offers a fast and inexpensive way to determine salivary amylase activity and stress levels in humans.

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Keywords
stress, saliva, amylase, direct potentiometry