Figures & data
Figure 1. Changes in psychological measures and salivary cortisol levels in 26 medical students. STAI state, STAI trait, SDS, and salivary cortisol levels were assessed 2 months and 2 days before the examination (the pre-examination period), and 1 month after the examination (the post-examination period). Values are presented as mean ± SD. *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01 by repeated measures one-way ANOVA and post hoc test.
Table I. Summary of repeated measures two-way ANOVA results.
Figure 2. Changes in GRα and GRβ mRNA expression in 26 medical students. RNA was prepared 2 months and 2 days before the examination (the pre-examination period), and 1 month after the examination (the post-examination period). The amounts of GRα and GRβ mRNAs were normalized to GAPDH mRNA. Values are presented as mean ± SD. *P < 0.05 by repeated measures one-way ANOVA and post hoc test.
Figure 3. Correlation between GRα and GRβ mRNA expression. The amounts of GRα and GRβ mRNAs were normalized to GAPDH mRNA. A significant correlation was found 2 days before the examination (r2 = 0.226 and P < 0.05), but not 2 months before the examination (r2 = 0.011) or 2 months after the examination (r2 = 0.014).
Figure 4. Correlation between GR gene isoforms and salivary cortisol levels. The amounts of GRα and GRβ mRNAs were normalized to GAPDH mRNA. Regarding GRα expression, there were no significant correlations during the analyzed period. Two months before the examination, a significant correlation was found between salivary cortisol levels and GRβ expression (r2 = 0.260 and P < 0.05). No significant correlations were observed at the other time points.
