This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Saliva samples may identify diabetes complications, aid management
Testing saliva may prove to be a functional tool for assessing asymptomatic patients with diabetes by predicting complications and, thus, helping to manage the disease more effectively, according to a study published in Frontiers in Physiology.
“With the use of salivary diagnostics, our study demonstrated the deregulation of biological mechanisms highly relevant to diabetic pathophysiology (inflammation, atherosclerosis signaling, coagulation) before any clinical complications (retinopathy, microalbuminuria, neuropathy) associated with the disease,” Heleni Vastardis, DDS, DMSc, assistant professor at the University of Athens, Greece, told Endocrine Today. “Salivary diagnostics enable the assessment of asymptomatic patients [with diabetes] and the identification of high-risk patients likely to face diabetic complications. This knowledge may offer access to novel points of intervention.”
Using high-resolution mass spectrometry, researchers analyzed saliva samples from 36 children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes and controls without diabetes. Participants were divided into three groups: 12 patients with diabetes with HbA1c at least 7.5% (mean HbA1c, 9.7%), 12 with diabetes and HbA1c between 6% and 7.5% (mean HbA1c, 6.2%) and 12 without diabetes and HbA1c less than 5.9% (mean HbA1c, 4.2%).
Researchers discovered that young patients with diabetes and HbA1c between 6% and 7.5% had saliva protein profiles similar to those without diabetes, Vastardis told Endocrine Today. However, participants with HbA1c greater than 7.5% had a different saliva protein profile. The differences are in proteins known to play key roles in inflammation, clotting and blood vessel function, all processes that are disrupted by high blood glucose levels.
Saliva collection serves as the most attractive diagnostic medium when examining children because it is easy, painless and noninvasive, according to Vastardis.
According to the researchers, in the near future, it may be possible to diagnose and monitor therapeutic strategies in diabetes with only a drop of saliva.
“In that direction, the development of a glucose biosensor, linked to the patient’s smartphone, has the potential to provide real-time, noninvasive salivary glucose monitoring, improving the compliance and the overall disease management,” Vastardis said. – by Melissa J. Webb
For more information:
Heleni Vastardis, DDS, DMSc , can be reached at h.vastardis@gmail.com.
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.