Gammoh, O. S., AlSmadi, A., Al?Awaida, W., Badr, M. M., & Qinna, N. A. (2016). Increased salivary nitric oxide and G6PD activity in refugees with anxiety and stress. Stress and Health, 32(4), 435-440.?
Anxiety and stress are related to physiological changes in humans. Accumulating evidence suggests a cross-talk
between psychiatric disorders and oxidative stress. The objective of this study was to compare oxidative stress
and defensive antioxidant biomarkers in a group of refugees with acute anxiety and stress with a group of local
Jordanians. The Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) Arabic version
were used to assess anxiety and stress respectively. Salivary nitric oxide concentration, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase
(G6PD) activity and total salivary protein were compared. As expected, refugees showed higher
anxiety and stress scores compared with Jordanians. Also, we report a significant increase in salivary nitric oxide
and G6PD activity in the refugee group while total protein concentration did not vary between the two groups.
This is the first study that demonstrates an increase in nitric oxide and G6PD activity in the saliva of refugees,
thus highlighting their potential role as possible biomarkers in anxiety and stress disorders.