Salivary cortisol levels and anxiety are not increased in women destined to develop preeclampsia.

Objective: To compare salivary cortisol levels and maternal anxiety (general and pregnancy-specific) in the early and late second trimester of pregnancy between women who developed preeclampsia (PE) and women who remained normotensive.

Design: Nested case-referent study. In a prospectively studied cohort of 250 pregnant women, nine women developed PE in late pregnancy. These nine patients were matched and compared with nine controls. Diurnal cortisol levels were obtained by collecting saliva samples at 17-18 and 27-28 weeks gestation. Salivary cortisol levels were determined by radioimmunoassay. Maternal anxiety was determined by Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and a pregnancy-specific stress questionnaire.

Results: For both patients and controls, a similar pattern of salivary cortisol excretion was observed. Salivary cortisol levels and anxiety scores (general and pregnancy-specific) did not differ significantly between patients and controls.

Conclusions: Our findings do not lend support to a role for maternal anxiety or second trimester increases in circulating stress hormones in the pathogenesis of PE.