Changes in salivary oxytocin after inhalation of clary sage essential oil scent in term-pregnant women: a feasibility pilot study

Table 1 Basic characteristics of participants

	Experiment group (n = 5)	Control group (n = 6)	p value
Age [SD] (years)	31.4 [2.7]	32.6 [1.8]	0.429
Gestation weeks [SD]	38.2 [0.2]	38.2 [0.1]	0.662
BMI [SD]	23.4 [3.5]	24.6 [2.5]	0.662
Education ≥ 12 years	5	5	1.000
Married	5	6	–
Having children	1	2	1.000
Oxytocin receptor polymorphisms
rs 53576 (GG)	0	1	1.000
rs2254298 (GG)	3	2	0.567
rs1042778 (TT)	1	0	0.455
Depression (CES-D ≥ 16)	0	0	–
Anxiety
A-Trait [SD]	31.0 [3.3]	30.0 [3.1]	0.126
A-State [SD]	26.6 [3.4]	32.6 [7.4]	0.177

Oxytocin receptor single nucleotide polymorphism was assayed using buccal mucosa samples collected after completing all saliva collections (TaqMan SNP genotyping assays, Applied Biosystems, Thermo Fisher, MA, USA)
The characteristics reportedly related to a lower oxytocin level were oxytocin receptor polymorphism (GG in rs53576 and rs2254298, and TT in rs1042778) [31,32,33]; having depression [29, 30, 32], anxiety [33], a high body mass index and no children, and being married [34]. Depression and anxiety were assessed using the Japanese version of CES-D [35, 36] and STAI [37, 38]
SD standard deviation, BMI Body mass index, CES-D Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, A-trait Trait anxiety of State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, A-State state anxiety of State-Trait Anxiety Inventor‎y
p-value Mann–Whitney U test or Fisher’s exact test for comparisons between groups

ISSN: 1756-0500