Introduction: Cortisol is a hormonal marker of stress which gets released into the blood by adrenal glands during a stressful situation due to the activation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Cortisol follows a diurnal pattern, with high concentrations in the morning and a decline throughout 1,2 the day, with the lowest levels in the evening and at night . This circadian rhythm is well-established by the third 1,2 month of infancy . Cortisol plays an important role in various functions like glucose regulation, maintenance of 3 immune system and also protein synthesis .However various studies have stated that prolonged periods of stress and activation of HPA axis can cause harmful effects like suppression of immune responses, bone growth and also poor cognitive 4,5,6 performances . Mothers of children with autism are usually under high levels of stress as 25 NUJHS Vol. 4, No.3, 2014, ISSN 2249-7110 September Nitte University Journal of Health Science Keywords : Autism, Stress, Cortisol. - Amitha M . Hegde SALIVARY CORTISOL LEVELS IN M OTHERS OF CHILDREN W ITH AUTISM - A BIOCHEM ICAL STUDY 1 2 Anshad M ohamed Abdulla , Amitha M . Hegde & M anju Gopakumar 1 2 P.G. Student, Professor & HOD, Reader, Department of Pedodontics & Preventive Dentistry, A.B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Nitte University, Mangalore - 575 018, Karnataka, India. Correspondence : Amitha M . Hegde Professor & H O D, Department of Pedodontics & Preventive Dentistry, A.B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Nitte University, Mangalore - 575 018, Karnataka, India. M obile : +91 96860 90880 E-mail : amipedo9@gmail.com Abstract: Background: Cortisol is a hormonal marker of stress which gets released into the blood by adrenal glands during a stressful situation. Mothers of children with autism will usually be experiencing great psychological trauma and therefore will be under high levels of stress. This stress might disturb the health and normal physiology of these mothers thus there is a need for study on the stress markers like cortisol in mothers of children with autism. M aterials and M ethods: Saliva of 20 mothers of children with autism and 20 mothers of healthy children were collected during early hours of the day ( 8 – 8.30 am) and during evenings( 4 – 4.15 pm) subjected for cortisol assay using ELISA test. RESULTS: Mothers of children with autism were found to have significantly lower levels of salivary cortisol throughout the day as compared to mothers of healthy children. Conclusion : There is a need for interventions for mothers of children with autism Keywords : Autism, Stress, Cortisol. Original Article Access this article online Quick Response Code compared mothers of healthy children due to poor psychological well-being. Various studies in the past has attributed this state of psychological distress to the 7,8 behavioural problems encountered in autistic children . However very few studies highlight the impact of this stress on the health of the individual as it can affect the normal physiology of the body. The present study was undertaken to examine whether the stress experienced by mothers of autistic children affected their salivary cortisol levels. M aterials and M ethods : The aim of the study was to examine the diurnal pattern of salivary cortisol levels in mothers of autistic children and mothers of healthy children and to compare them. Sample: The participants consisted of 20 mothers of children with autism (study group) and 20 mothers of healthy children (control group). The participants for the study group were selected from the mothers of autistic children attending a special school in Kerala, and the participants for the control group were selected from the mothers of healthy children Published online: 2020-04-26