Abstract

Background: Acid Phosphatase (ACP) is an enzyme used as a non-invasive biomarker to study the activity of the lysosomal sympathetic system. The aim of this study was to compare the levels of salivary ACP in stressed and non-stressed pregnant women in Ahvaz, Iran.

Study design: A causal-comparative study.

Methods: This was a causal-comparative study using purposive sampling technique. The subjects were randomly selected. The instruments used in this study were the Orly & Girdano stress and demographic questionnaires. Saliva samples were collected from 50 pregnant women with stress and 50 pregnant women without stress. Salivary ACP was determined and compared using paired independent sample t test.

Results: Overall, the findings of the present study showed that the differences mean of salivary ACP levels in the stressed pregnant women was significantly higher than pregnant women without stress (P<0.05).

Conclusion: We found differences in pregnant women with stress and without stress regarding to salivary ACP levels. The results of this study showed that stress causes an increase in salivary ACP secretion.

Keywords: Acid phosphatase; Saliva; Enzyme; Stress; Pregnant women; Biomarker