Research with predominantly male samples supports primary and secondary developmental pathways to psychopathy that are phenotypically indistinguishable on aggressive and antisocial behavior. The aim of this study was to examine whether female variants of psychopathy show divergent endocrine (i.e., cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone [DHEA], testosterone, and their interactions) and psychophysiological (i.e., heart rate variability [HRV]) reactivity to social provocation. We also tested whether variants differed on reactive aggression when performing a competitive reaction time task against the fictitious participant who previously insulted them. Latent profile analyses on 101 undergraduate women oversampled for high psychopathic traits identified a high-anxious, maltreated secondary variant (n=64) and a low-anxious primary variant (n=37). Although variants did not differ on aggression, secondary variants showed higher cortisol, testosterone, cortisol-to-DHEA ratios, and HRV following social provocation relative to primary variants. Findings suggest that the neurobiological mechanisms underpinning aggression in psychopathy may differ between women on primary versus secondary developmental pathways.

There is considerable interest in the potential utility of salivary measures of immune biomarkers such as proinflammatory cytokines. Recent research has found low correlations between salivary and serum measures of cytokines such as interleukin-6 (IL-6), reflecting poor agreement across samples taken from mucosal vs. circulatory sites. However, the associations of cytokines across mucosal sites are still unknown. The first goal of this project was to assess correlations of measures of IL-6 taken concurrently at two mucosal sites: in saliva and in vaginal fluid. The second goal was to test the hypothesis that sexual arousal stimulates migration of immune cells towards the reproductive tract, a process termed immunoredistribution. The immune system may interpret sexual arousal as a cue of the potential for sexually transmitted infection, and thus redistribute cells to address this potential threat. If so, we should expect that as the reproductive tract draws immune resources from other mucosal sites, the correlation between mucosal cytokines should become negative following sexual arousal. In the present study, forty healthy premenopausal women provided two samples each of their saliva and vaginal fluid during a laboratory-based sexual arousal induction paradigm. Participants self-collected their vaginal fluid with a tampon, and provided passive drool samples, before and after self-stimulation with a vibrator. Tampons were stored in sterile saline solution, and weighed prior to fluid extraction via centrifugation; vaginal fluid weights were used to adjust final IL-6 concentrations. Samples were assayed for IL-6 using validated electrochemiluminescence assay kits from MesoScale Development; inter-assay and intra-assay CVs were low (3.6 – 5.5% and 9.4 – 13.08%, respectively). The correlation between salivary and vaginal IL-6 was not significant among the pre-arousal samples (r(35) = -0.128, p = 0.463). However, in the post-arousal samples the correlation was significant and negative: r(40) = -0.348, p = 0.041), supporting the hypothesis that arousal may cue immunoredistribution from salivary to vaginal mucosa. Given the small sample, these findings should be treated as preliminary and warranting replication. Of particular importance is further research on whether measures of salivary cytokines truly reflect only oral immune response, or if they may also reveal activity of the mucosal immune system more broadly.

Maternal tobacco use in the form of cigarettes and co-use of tobacco and cannabis during pregnancy constitutes a significant public health problem. The goal of this study was to 1) examine the role of tobacco exposure (TE) & tobacco + cannabis (TCE) co-exposure on stress reactivity in early school age – cortisol response to two laboratory stressors and 2) examine child sex, maternal depression/stress, and parenting as moderators. The sample consisted of 181 mother-child dyads participating in a longitudinal study since the prenatal period and over-recruited for TE in pregnancy. Results from multi-level modeling indicated that exposure to both tobacco + cannabis and higher maternal depression/stress or higher maternal harshness in early childhood was predictive of a blunted cortisol response. Results are supportive of toxic stress and allostatic load models indicating dual exposure to both substances combined with high postnatal caregiving stress posed by maternal depression/stress or harsh parenting increases risk for blunted stress response systems in children.

Prenatal alcohol exposure can produce a highly complex pattern of impairments in cognition, self-regulation, and adaptive functioning in the affected individual. All these impairments are included under the term: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Animal models demonstrate that prenatal alcohol results in sexually dimorphic effects on neurobiology, and these sex differences are impact mediated in part through dysregulation of neuroendocrine systems.

In humans, very little research has examined sex differences in the effects of PAE. Here, we extend previous work demonstrating sex differences in FASD-related alterations in the brain, by exploring parallel alterations in gonadal hormones among kids with FASD. We found that the developmental trajectory of DHEA and Testosterone appears to be altered in boys, but not girls, with FASD. Specifically, the trajectory appears flatter across pre- to post- pubertal age groups for both hormones in boys with FASD compared to typically developing controls. In conclusion, if PAE leads to lifelong changes in hormone functioning, this may have lasting effects on the developing brains of children with FASD. The lack of human studies on HPG and brain development in FASD highlights a major gap in knowledge and potential future arena for hormone-based assessments and interventions.

Objective: Evaluation of the feasibility of a therapy dog intervention for anxious and fearful child patients, 8-12 years of age, in the pediatric dental clinic.

Methodology: A pilot study (N=18) of a certified therapy dog intervention was conducted using the framework of Bowen’s model for feasibility of new healthcare interventions, which evaluates acceptability, adaptation, and expansion, was used as framework for study design. Measures of acceptability included observation, self- and parent-report regarding perception of experience pre- and post- questionnaires and pooled-saliva sampling. Salivary cortisol, alpha-amylase, and oxytocin levels were measured before the intervention (T0) and at two time-points during the intervention (T1=10 minutes and T2=15 minutes). Adaptation and expansion was assessed by the post-treatment dentist report regarding changes needed to augment the treatment room.

Results: The intervention as deemed acceptability by guardians with a very high rate of 83%. Guardians further supported the intervention with 100% stating that the liked the therapy dog’s presence for their child on their post-survey. No safety issues were observed. Additional chairs were used during all dental treatments; one chair for the dog-handler, and the other chair for dog. All saliva samples were successfully collected and analyzed at all three time points, for all patients. The average changes of each measurement were as follows: cortisol (T0-T1: -0.002pcg/mL, range -0.05-0.067, T1-T2: -0.02, -0.079-0.022), alpha-amylase (T0-T1: 14.80pcg/mL, -75-224.90, T1-T2: -19.58, -156.60-49.90), oxytocin (T0-T1: 1.36pcg/mL, -11.98-25.14, T1-T2: 5.15, 8.25-21.79).

Conclusion: The certified therapy dog intervention is feasible in the pediatric dentist clinic. Collection of saliva and measurement of salivary cortisol, alpha-amylase, and oxytocin levels is a practical method that can be used to evaluate biological change in emotional regulation of dental anxiety and fear during the therapy dog intervention.

Through this poster, we explore the reliability and utility of using the MSD multiplex human proinflammatory cytokines immunoassay (IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α) with oral fluid samples by 1) examining cytokine concentrations and distributions in healthy young adults, 2) Determining Inter-assay precision by testing a spiked saliva pool across 75 MSD plates, and 3) Using data from 6 studies (3635-4098 unique samples) and different kits lots to determine intra-assay precision for each cytokine.

Current best practice guidelines for salivary bioscience studies examining diurnal hormonal patterns include the use of MEMS caps or time-stamped photographs to record saliva sampling time. The present study explores compliance problems with these time-stamp protocols in an intensive, at-home, salivary bioscience study involving children with and without ADHD.

145 children provided saliva samples while using either MEMS caps or time-stamped photographs to digitally record the time of sampling. Descriptive statistics of problem MEMS and problem photograph time-stamp data (i.e., missingness, incorrect handling) were examined across sampling occasions, and variation in problem time-stamp data was examined across sampling time (morning vs. afternoon/evening) and study group (ADHD vs. Control).

More than a third of saliva samples had problematic time-stamp data, irrespective of time-stamp method (41% problem MEMS time-stamps, 33% problem photograph time-stamps).

The high prevalence of problematic time-stamp data raises concerns about the analysis and interpretation of salivary data collected in the field, including issues related to high rates of systematic missingness, non-random error, and uncertainty about saliva sampling time.

Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES), an analytical technique used for determining mineral and metal content in dissolved samples. This method was developed specifically for saliva and measures 10 analytes of interest [Li, Cr, Co, Mn, Hg, Pb, As, Cu, Ni, Zn] using a Perkin Elmer Avio 200. We are interested in how factors such as processing method or number of freeze thaws affect the 10 analytes and what the limits of detection and quantification are for this method. For most metals (exception Hg), concentrations were consistent with what was expected and differences in saliva sample collection, handling, and storage appear to be negligible. Detection limits were excellent and calculated to be sub 1 µg/L for most metals with heavy metals having the poorest detection limits of the panel. Limits of quantification for most analytes are 1µg/L and the heavier metals range 2.5-5µg/L. These data suggest the measurement of many elements in saliva is feasible and detectable at low concentrations. Integrating salivary measurements of elements into studies of human health and development has the potential to advance our understanding to new limits.

Past research has found that higher serum uric acid (UA) levels were associated with higher levels of intelligence, motivation, and achievement and that these findings may be sex specific. Similarly, higher testosterone has been associated with higher-status occupations, and testosterone has been shown to increase during competition. These findings suggest that UA and testosterone may covary in relations to achievement and motivation, and these relations may vary across sex. In this study, we examined salivary uric acid (sUA) and salivary testosterone in relation to measures of personality and motivation in 113 undergraduate students from a large Southwestern university. Our results support previous findings of cross-system relations between UA and testosterone among females. Additionally, among males, sUA was positively associated with generalized sense of power, and this finding was robust to adjustment for body mass index and salivary testosterone.

This study addresses several specific knowledge gaps related to effects of sample collection technique, cold chain management, and storage conditions on salivary cytokine results. Saliva samples were tested using Meso Scale Discovery to determine the effect of varied freeze-thaw cycles, long and short term storage temperature and swab density. Level differences and the ranking of individual differences were evaluated. Findings underscore the importance of standardizing collection, cold chain, and storage protocols within and across studies working to integrate salivary cytokines into models of human health, development, and disease.