Kallikrein concentration in mixed saliva after contraceptive administration or postmenopausal hormone replacement

Abstract

The aim of our study was to evaluate the premise (Jenzano 1992) that estrogen influences the female mixed saliva kallikrein level (MSK). We estimated the MSK level from woman between the ages of 17 and 39 with (n = 20) and without (20) contraceptive medication (at least an one year treatment) and postmenopausal women between the ages of 47 and 65 with (n = 20) and without (n = 22) hormonal substitution. Kallikrein was estimated by means of the cleavage of the chromogenic tripeptide Val-Leu-Arg-p-nitranilide (SIGMA) and absorbance measuring of p-nitraniline at 405 nm. A Wilcoxon test was conducted for statistical analysis. The MSK level decreases significantly (p = 0.000) under contraceptive medication (estrogen component: synthetic ethinyl-estrogen). However the MSK level of postmenopausal women showed no significant alteration (p = 0.158) after hormone substitution (estrogen component: natural estrogen). The finding may be due to the weaker effect of the estrogen used in post-menopausal hormone therapy. Our results demonstrate that estrogenic substances affect salivary kallikrein levels.