2026 · Drug and alcohol dependence reports · paywalled
Exploring hormonal influences on nicotine craving and use across the perinatal period: A prospective longitudinal study
Allen et al.
The finding, in our words
In a study of 46 perinatal nicotine users, dried blood spots and saliva were used weekly to measure reproductive hormones, finding that lower postpartum estradiol and greater peripartum declines in oxytocin were associated with increased nicotine craving and use. This demonstrates the feasibility of decentralised microsampling and remote surveys for longitudinal hormone tracking in vulnerable populations.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
A remote protocol combining daily surveys with weekly self-collected dried blood spots achieved a 92% study completion rate and high acceptability among reproductive-age women smokers, with 87% of participants collecting most samples and the same proportion extremely willing to repeat the study. This feasibility demonstrates that decentralised microsampling can support longitudinal research on hormonal contraceptive effects and smoking behaviour.
A US survey of 3,400 adults aged 62 to 90 collected up to 15 biomeasures at home, including saliva, dried blood spots and urine, with Salivette and Oragene among the devices used, which shows that several patient-centric sampling methods can run together in home-based research.
This study demonstrated that a fully remote genome sequencing study using self-collected dried blood spots and buccal swabs is feasible for individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome, with all participants completing the study and reporting the process was easy despite being lengthy. The design successfully returned actionable genetic findings, including those related to blood clot formation, to participants.
Home DBS sampling gave testosterone results that agreed well with venous blood in men on intramuscular testosterone undecanoate, but showed falsely high values in those using topical gel, likely from skin contamination. Patients preferred home collection for its convenience, suggesting DBS is viable for decentralised monitoring of injectable testosterone if patients are taught proper technique.
Steroid hormones in dried blood spots remained within 15% of baseline for up to 14 days at 37C, and for up to 6 months at -20C, 4C and room temperature, with specific exceptions for androstenedione, 17-OHP, cortisone and cortisol. These findings support the use of DBS for decentralised hormone monitoring by defining storage limits that preserve analyte integrity during transit and storage.