摘要：The purpose of present study was to investigate the impact of repeated competition on salivary cortisol and DHEA-S in amateur women karate athletes. We recruited 20 young elite female karate fighters [height 158 ± 7 cm (mean ± S.D.), weight 59.5 ± 10.9 kg, age 21.1 ± 3.0 years], who were placed first till fourth in the Iranian championship tournament. Five ml of unstimulated whole saliva was collected 30-min before and 5 - min after first and last match in competition and analyzed for cortisol and DHEA-S concentrations. The results showed that participation in competition resulted in significantly increased saliva cortisol level (p < 0.05). Theconcentration of salivary cortisol increased throughout the competition (p < 0.05). Although the concentration of cortisol was decreased after a final competition, it was higher than resting values (p < 0.05). The concentration of salivary DHEA-S was not affected by competition (p > 0.05). Significant differences insalivary steroids were not different between winners and losers (p > 0.05). The results of present study show that salivary cortisol concentration is a suitable index for showing competing stress.
