Estriol in Saliva During Pregnancy

Abstract

A radioimmunoassay for the measurement of estriol in the saliva of pregnant women was developed. The effect of stimulation of saliva flow by citric acid was investigated and found to not affect estriol concentration significantly. Also, estriol levels were not significantly affected by the size of sample collected. Estriol was measured during pregnancy in the saliva of four women. There was an increase in concentration at later gestations although the concentration in saliva was much less than in plasma. This study suggests that assay of salivary estriol will be a convenient method of monitoring material estriol levels during pregnancy.