Aim: Saliva is one of the most abundant secretions in the human body and its collection is easy and noninvasive. The aim of this study was to find a medium that can be used to diagnose and monitor diabetes. In this, saliva could play a major role. To substantiate the role of saliva as a diagnostic tool, we compared saliva samples with blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA(1c)) in healthy and diabetic subjects.
Materials and methods: Included in the study were 106 patients, newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus and 15 healthy control subjects. The patients and control subjects were asked to come to the clinic in the morning, after an 8-hour fast. At that time, 5 mL of venous blood was collected, 2 mL of which was collected in an ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)-containing blood collection tube and sent for HbA(1c) estimation. Unstimulated saliva was collected from both groups as well. The saliva and sera from the blood samples were subjected to glucose estimation.
Results: The correlation coefficient between serum glucose and salivary glucose in the control group was calculated and the r value was found to be 0.5216, which was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The correlation coefficient between serum glucose and salivary glucose in the patient group was also calculated and the r value was found to be 0.7686, which was highly significant (P < 0.01). Finally, the correlation coefficient between HbA(1c) level and salivary glucose in the patient group was calculated and the r value was found to be 0.5662, which was also highly significant (P < 0.01).
Keywords: hyperglycemia; insulin; saliva; salivary glucose; serum glucose.