2019 · Gynecology and minimally invasive therapy · open access
Salivary Human Chorionic Gonadotropin as a Novel Biomarker for Early Detection of Pregnancy: A Pilot Study
Mahajan et al.
The finding, in our words
A pilot study of 35 women showed that a urine pregnancy test kit detected salivary human chorionic gonadotropin with 77 per cent accuracy, giving 74 per cent positive results but 23 per cent false negatives against laboratory urine tests or ultrasound. This indicates saliva could provide a more acceptable home-based pregnancy test, though sensitivity requires improvement for reliable early detection.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
Self-collected salivary progesterone and the ratio of estradiol to progesterone showed strong agreement with serum levels, supporting the use of saliva as a noninvasive matrix for monitoring the menstrual cycle.
Goldenstein et al., Physiological reports · source ↗
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.
Allen et al., Drug and alcohol dependence reports (paywalled) · source ↗
In a feasibility pilot of 29 perimenopausal women using daily saliva progesterone measured at home, a significant association was seen between short luteal phases and having more cycles under 23 days, but this did not remain after adjusting for observation count and no differences were found for other cycle characteristics, suggesting short luteal phases may not reliably indicate cycle irregularity in this population.
Visby Madsen et al., Menopause (paywalled) · source ↗
Only 24% of participants completed this two-cycle feasibility study of AI-interpreted salivary ferning for ovulation prediction in females with irregular cycles, with 44% withdrawing citing cycle irregularity, pregnancy, or time constraints. The authors concluded that decentralised fertility trials must streamline procedures and provide ovulatory health education to improve retention and reduce burden before smartphone-based diagnostics can be scaled for this population.
Peebles et al., Journal of medical Internet research · source ↗
The Ovul portable device, which analyses dried saliva crystallisation patterns to detect the fertile window, achieved 97.4% sensitivity and 97.6% accuracy in women with idiopathic infertility, outperforming urine test strips while both methods maintained 100% specificity against folliculometry. This supports its use as a decentralised, patient‑centric tool for home fertility monitoring that could reduce costs and improve convenience.
Kolomiichenko et al., Wiadomosci lekarskie (paywalled) · source ↗