The relationship of salivary and cord blood cortisol in preterm infants.

The article describes a study that explores the use of salivary cortisol to measure adrenal steroid concentration in premature infants as a non-invasive technique for evaluating neonatal stress function. It reveals that a direct correlation was found between salivary and cord blood cortisol values in the 102 paired samples collected from the 51 infants involved in the study. It also observed lower levels of mean salivary cortisol (though not blood plasma cortisol) in infants whose mothers were treated with antenatal steroids.