Stress-induced Salivary IL-2 Levels in Dentistry Students

Abstract

Background and aim(s): The aim of this study was evaluation of the salivary Interleukin-2 (IL-2) levels secreted due to influence of exam stress among dentistry students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in 2012-2013. Materials and methods: 80 dentistry students who had been selected randomly from dentistry students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences enrolled in this study. Holmes and Rahe questionnaire was used to evaluate stress scores of these students. Individuals who gained scores higher than 200, were excluded because of being susceptible to psychological disorders related to stress. Saliva samples of reminding 40 students 18 (43.8%) male and 22 (56.2%) female were taken in the middle of term and, at the day of the exams. Salivary IL-2 levels were assessed by ELISA method using anti-IL-2 monoclonal antibody. Descriptive statistics methods, t-test and WilcoxonEs test, were used to analyze the data. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Data analysis showed significant difference between saliva IL-2 levels on the mid-term and the day of final exam (P =0.006). The difference between stress level of male and female studied group on the final exam day was significant (P =0.027). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that exam stress can increase salivary levels IL-2