Saliva samples for DCP, AUCg, cortisol awakening response, cortisol decline, and stimulation-related cortisol levels
Cor, Cor II
Two sets of DCP samples were collected during the study. Participants were instructed to collect saliva four times during the day before the first stimulation (baseline) and at the end of the third week (W3)Based on samples Cor I and Cor II, the cortisol awakening response (CAR) was calculated from the difference between the two samples (i.e., CAR = Cor II−Cor I). Additionally, the cortisol decline (CD) was calculated from the difference between the first morning cortisol value (i.e., sample Cor I) and the last value (i.e., sample Cor IV). Finally, salivary cortisol was collected "immediately before stimulation" (pre), "immediately after stimulation" (post), and "2 h after stimulation" (2 h-post) in W0 and W2 (Table It is important to note that the examination of diurnal cortisol parameters (i.e., CAR, CD and DCP) has been established as an important aspect in both clinical and epidemiological researchImplausible morning cortisol values (i.e., values of samples Cor I or Cor II ≤ 3 nmol/L) were replaced with half of the minimum morning cortisol value (in this case, 1.50 nmol/L), as recommended elsewhere