Salivary hormones and IgA in relation to physical performance in football.

Salivary biomarkers have shown to be useful to assess physiological stress in football, but their relationship with physical performance is unknown. The aims of this study were to investigate the effect of a football match on salivary cortisol, testosterone and immunoglobulin A (IgA) concentrations in elite footballers, and to examine the relationship of physical performance during the match to these biomarkers. Nine elite football players were assessed before, during and after a friendly international match.