Cortisol in deciduous tooth tissues: A potential metric for assessing stress exposure in archaeological and living populations

Abstract

Objective: Cortisol is a glucocorticoid hormone produced by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis that is regularly assessed in modern human and non-human populations in saliva, blood, and hair as a measure of stress exposure and stress reactivity. While recent research has detected cortisol concentrations in modern and archaeological permanent dental tissues, the present study assessed human primary (deciduous) teeth for cortisol concentrations.

Materials and methods: Fifty-one dentine and enamel samples from nine modern and 10 archaeological deciduous teeth were analyzed for cortisol concentrations via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Results: Detectable concentrations of cortisol were identified in 15 (of 32) dentine and 8 (of 19) enamel samples coming from modern and archaeological deciduous teeth.

Conclusions: This study is the first known analysis of cortisol from deciduous dental tissues, demonstrating the potential to identify measurable concentrations.

Significance: The ability to analyze deciduous teeth is integral to developing dental cortisol methods with multiple potential future applications, including research on the biological embedding of stress in the skeleton. This study marks a key step in a larger research program to study stress in primary dentition from living and archaeological populations.

Limitations: Multiple samples generated cortisol values that were not detectable with ELISA. Minimum quantities of tissue may be required to generate detectable levels of cortisol.

Suggestions for further research: Future research should include larger sample sizes and consideration of intrinsic biological and extrinsic preservation factors on dental cortisol. Further method validation and alternative methods for assessing dental cortisol are needed.

Keywords: Circumpulpal Dentine; Dentine; Dentition; Enamel; Fetus; Glucocorticoid Hormones.