articles about cortisol

Validation of saliva sampling techniques in swine in order to assess stress responses

27-Sep-2010
Salivary cortisol (a stress hormone) is an outcome measure that can be used along with health, behaviour, and productivity. Saliva sampling has the potential to be a relatively non-invasive method of determining cortisol concentration. However, techniques have not yet been validated or standardized for use in grower-finisher pigs. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect that different sampling regimens have on salivary cortisol concentration.