Clinical Performance of a Salivary Amylase Activity Monitor during Hemodialysis Treatment

The hemodialysis procedure is thought to be a physical stressor in the majority of hemodialyzed patients. Previous studies suggest that elevated salivary amylase level may correlate with increased plasma norepinephrine level under psychological and physical stress conditions. In this study, we investigated biological stress reactivity during hemodialysis treatment using salivary amylase activity as a biomarker. Seven patients (male/female = 5/2, age: 67.7+/-5.9 years) who had been receiving regular 4 h hemodialysis were recruited. Salivary amylase activity was measured using a portable analyzer every hour during the hemodialysis session. Salivary amylase activity was shown to be relatively stable and constant throughout hemodialysis, whereas there were significant changes in systolic blood pressure and pulse rate associated with blood volume reduction. Our results show that hemodialysis treatment per se dose not affect salivary amylase activity.