Effect of competitional stress on salivary dehydroepiandrosterone, cortisol in female handballists

Hormonal responses to competitions and their relationships have been extensively examined in male athletes, but there are few studies in women. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of competition stress on salivary dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and cortisol in female handballists. Ten female handballists of Islamic Azad University (Sari Branch) (age 21.5±2.5 years) participated in this study. Salivary samples were collected 30 min and 5 min before competition, between two half times and immediately after four competitions. The salivary DHEA and cortisol concentrations were measured by ELISA method. The results of one-way ANOVA with repeated measures have shown a significant (p=0.001) increases for DHEA concentration after four competitions, however, cortisol and DHEA/cortisol ratio did not show any changes after four competition (p>0.05). These results indicate that salivary DHEA is more sensitive to competition situations than cortisol concentration. We suggested that androgens maybe more affected by competition.