Salivary Diagnostics - Diseases of the Oral Cavity

Human saliva can be collected in an easy and non-invasive way. Thus it is a very promising body fluid for use in diagnosing of disease, monitoring of general health or treatment and performing drug tests. The biomarkers present in saliva comprise proteins, nucleic acids, drugs and their metabolites, viruses, bacteria, immunoglobulins, hormones, enzymes etc. For dentists the two most interesting areas of salivary diagnostics are oral cancer and periodontitis. Early diagnosis is always of utmost importance for therapeutic benefit and survival of cancer patients. A whole range of salivary biomarkers of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) were identified, including HPV16 DNA, CEA, anti-p53 Ig, HNP 1-3 etc. In patients suffering from periodontitis three groups of biomarkers were identified. Each group conforms to one of the characteristic processes leading to periodontal disease: inflammation, connective tissue destruction and bone remodelling. None of these biomarkers is pathognomonic of periodontitis, yet the concomitant assessment can assure high sensitivity and specificity of salivary diagnosis of periodontal disease.