Stimulated and unstimulated saliva progesterone in menopausal women with oral dryness feeling

The aim of this study was to investigate the stimulated and unstimulated salivary progesterone in menopausal women with oral dryness (OD) feeling. A case-control study was carried out on 70 selected menopausal women aged 42-78 years with or without OD feeling (35 as cases with xerostomia and 35 as control without xerostomia), conducted at the Clinic of Oral Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). Unstimulated and paraffin-stimulated saliva samples were obtained by expectoration. The salivary concentration of progesterone was determined with an enzyme immunoassay kit. Statistical analysis of the Student's t test was used. The mean stimulated and unstimulated whole saliva progesterone concentrations and unstimulated saliva flow, but not stimulated saliva flow rate, was significantly lower in the case than in the control. The results showed that subjects with dry mouth had decreased unstimulated saliva flow and salivary progesterone compared with those without dry mouth. Thus, salivary progesterone level appears associated with OD feeling in menopause.